Down the Bloodline
by Swalker2000
Summary: The International Villain Brotherhood want Gru to help them in a dangerous heist to excavate large amounts of cash. However, when he is unwilling to do so, they send a hitman to kill his entire family and get him back into villainy. This hitman however, finds an unexpected connection with the family. One he could never quite forget... CONTAINS VERY DARK THEMES THROUGHOUT
1. A Step Too Far

**_Despicable Me_** **: Down the Bloodline**

 _So I return with another Despicable Me fan fiction._

 _This one is going to be extremely adventurous and possibly a little crazy, but I'm gonna give it a shot. A little pre-warning for those who aren't a fan of OC's, this story will contain one, and they will have a pretty huge part in the storyline. However, this story is predominantly warm Gru family moments, with tonnes of cute moments._

 _Although, on that note, I should also mention that there are some very dark themes and topics used throughout the story, that you may or may not find disturbing. It can get pretty intense in a lot of places, so please take note._

 _But, if you're okay with that, then without further ado, let's get started..._

* * *

 **Chapter One -  
** _ **A Step Too Far**_

A collective cheer thundered it's way through the lab as Phil hammered the last nail into a huge, grey ray gun. The minion couldn't help but feel a rush of importance as the large crowd of Minions in front of him threw themselves into the air with an all-mighty roar. He put his fist in the air and cheered along with them.

Gru was standing right beside Phil as he hammered that last nail. He managed to contain his cheer, just to retain his intimidation factor in front of the minions, but still found himself unconsciously bouncing up and down in excitement.

A lot of research had been done before making this ray gun, and he was ebullient to get it up and running. He just hoped that all of this hard work hadn't been for nothing.

After a few seconds of watching the Minion crowd cheer jubilantly, he shouted with a loud authoritative voice, grabbing the attention of the entire lab.

"Okay, okay! Everyone calm down!" He exclaimed, as the minions looked towards him and did as he asked. "We do not know eef eet works yet!"

Just as he finished talking, Lucy entered the lab and looked over to Gru with a frustrated yet quizzical expression.

"What's with all the noise!?" She angrily asked, rubbing her tired eyes as she did so.

"Oh! Sorry honey..." Gru timidly responded, shrinking down in himself under his wife's irritated glare.

The minions began to snicker amongst themselves as they watched their boss reply so weakly. But, they were quickly brought back to intimidated silence as Gru turned and angrily screamed at them.

"Hey! Shut up!"

"What's going on?" Lucy boomed. "And more importantly, why is it going on at _six-thirty_ in the morning!?"

"Oh!" Gru replied, looking down at his digital watch. "I deedn't realize eet was so early. But look, we've finally feenished de ray gun!"

"Oh, you mean the ray gun that's been keeping you so busy the past few days...?" Lucy replied, as she slowly strolled towards him. "The ray gun that's been keeping you so busy in fact, that you've been spending very little time with your own family...?"

Those words sent a sharp bolt of guilt through Gru's spine. It was, of course, the summer holidays, and Gru had promised himself that he would spend as much time as he could with his beloved family. But this ray gun was extremely important to him. Well...it wasn't the gun itself that was important to him, but what he and the minions had built it to do.

"Um...yesss...dat ray gun." He mumbled, shrinking back down again. "But don't yoo know what dis means!?"

"Not really..." Lucy tiredly responded through a yawn.

"Dis ray gun has de capability to melt carbonite!" Gru yelled excitedly as Lucy's eyes widened in realization. "We can free Dr. Nefario!"

The minions cheered again, as if this was the very first time they had been told. But, of course, they had known, as they were the ones who had built it.

"That's great, Gru!" Lucy loudly replied, trying to speak over the shrieking sounds of the minions.

As she leaned in and gave her husband a big kiss on the cheek, the minions all stopped cheering and turned to face the couple with a heart-warming smile.

"Awwww..." They cooed in unison.

"Yeah, yeah! Just...be quiet!" Gru shouted. He quickly shifted his gaze to the nearest minion, standing up straight with authority as he blasted his order. "Mark! Go get Dr. Nefario and put heem up on de stage! Ensure dat de ray gun ees facing directly towards heem! I want everytheeng set up right dis moment! Got dat!?"

"K!" Mark responded, turning away and chattering to a few other minions in their gibberish language.

As Mark and four other minions pushed the gun out of the room, the rest of the minion crowd dispersed to do their own individual activity.

"I'm so excited to see heem again!" Gru chriped, dancing around the lab with glee.

"Do you think he'll wanna stay here now?" Lucy asked softly. Of course, before getting frozen in carbonite, Dr. Nefario had been harping on about the lack of villainy in his life. Since her and Gru were still good guys, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon, does Nefario really want to stick around with the absence of heists and robberies? "I mean, he does like the whole villain thing...and now that you're no longer a villain..."

"I'm sure he'll be willeeng to help us out on AVL missions." Gru replied happily, not a single indication of doubt in his voice.

"Well...if you think s-"

"WELL EEF EET EESN'T MY FAVOURITE NEMESIS'S!"

Gru and Lucy both jumped in fright as Dru came running up from behind to pull them inside a huge hug. Lucy giggled as his hold got tighter, while Gru frowned as he frantically shook his brother's arms away.

"Aww! I've meessed yoo guys!" Dru yelled, prancing giddily around the lab, giving each minion he saw a hug.

"I wasn't expecteeng yoo to be home so early, brother..." Gru spoke, a small indication of disappointment in his voice. He loved his brother to death, just as he did the rest of his family, but his never-ending energy got _very_ annoying _very_ quickly.

"Wellllll...villainy does get quite boring after a while," Dru replied, all the while still prancing and hugging. "And I was starteeng to meess my family!"

"Well, you got home at the perfect time, Dru." Lucy spoke, beaming a toothy grin. "Nefario's getting unfrozen! Fancy watching?"

"Wait...yoo're gonna unfreeze Dr. Nerfroid!?" Dru shouted, the decibels of his voice increasing as each word left his mouth.

"Nefario!" Gru corrected sternly. "Ne-far-io!"

"Whatever!" Dru said, waving a hand in his direction, as if to swat him away. "Of course I'll come watch! But before dat, where are de gurls? I wanna see dem!"

"Dey're still asleep," Gru responded. "Eet ees six-thirty een de morning eef yoo hadn't realized..."

"Oh..." Dru sulked, lowering his head in disappointment. However, it didn't take too long for him to perk back up, as his plan came into vision. "I'll go wake dem up!"

Before either Gru or Lucy could stop him, Dru darted into the elevator and flew back up towards the house with a giddy smile planted firmly across his face.

"Ugh...I always forget how annoyeeng he ees until he walks through de door." Gru said, smacking a hand upon his forehead. With a sigh of frustration, he turned to face a few minions, who had all been watching the conversation in interest, and instructing them around harshly. "Put de unfreezing on hold for a few hours! A few theengs need ironeeng out furst."

The minions nodded and jogged off, while Gru started towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked, giving him a look of uncertainty.

"Where do you theenk?" He sneered. "De gurls weel probably want breakfast after deir rude awakening."

"Ooo, breakfast!" She cheered, jogging up to follow her husband into the elevator. "Good idea!"

As the elevator shot up into the house, Gru's mind shook with happiness and excitement. Today was going to be a good day, he could just feel it. Nefario would be back, he could finally spend time with his family again, and everything in his life would be exactly how he wanted it. However...

...he never could've predicted how truly wrong he was.

* * *

Jack sat outside the looming door, peering around at all the different stolen artefacts that were placed upon the shelves around him. The room was completely empty, bar for him and the organisation's receptionist, who refused to offer him any of her attention.

Jack wasn't one to get scared, but at the moment, he felt a small amount of nerve building up inside his heart. Today, the big boss wanted to give him an 'important' assignment, or that's how a few co-workers had described it. Even though he had a good relationship with the boss, he still scared the living daylights out of Jack.

Without prior warning, the loud ring of a telephone broke the deadly silence inside the large waiting room, causing him to jump a little in fright. After realizing that it was only a phone call, he calmed himself down and attempted to sooth his nerves.

The receptionist spoke quietly for a few seconds, not seeming to care about the conversation she was having over the phone, before putting the receiver down and finally giving Jack a snide glance.

"You may enter." She sneered. Jack decided against responding and shuffled his way through the big door.

He entered a long, but thin room. Inside, the walls were plastered with a dark yellow and red wallpaper, which was decorated with multiple paintings of famous villains, all of whom were deceased. At the end of the room was a large desk, a bulky red chair placed firmly behind it. At the moment, it was facing away from him, indicating that the boss was electing for a more dramatic start to the conversation.

Jack trudged nervously towards the table, keeping his head down, before promptly sitting down upon the small wooden chair placed directly in front of it. With a clear of the throat, he perked up and started the conversation.

"You...uh...wanted to see me?" He asked, the fear in his voice box causing him to stutter a little.

A large man, who stood at around 7 foot and wore a dark green tuxedo, spun around in his chair until he was making eye contact with Jack. He beamed a bright smile as he laid his eyes upon him.

"Jack!" He cheered, his voice as loud as it was deep. "How the devil are you?"

"I'm doing good, sir." Jack replied, his usual confidence beginning to resurface. "I trust you are doing well yourself."

"Of course." The man responded. With the pleasantries out of the way, the man put his elbows upon the desk and started talking with more of an edge, proving the importance of his next sentence. "I have a big job for you today, young man."

"I love the big jobs." Jack replied, excitement slowly flooding over his face.

"Yes." The man said, shifting his gaze down. "But this is probably the biggest job you have ever faced. I wasn't sure if you were ready, but the standard of your work recently has been excellent, and I knew you were the right man for the job. I mean, frightening thirteen men into soiling themselves at once? I couldn't have done better myself!"

"Uh...thanks." Jack replied, a beaming smile pulling itself across his face. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well...the IVB are having a few financial problems." The boss replied. "We've come up with a plan that could excavate trillions of dollars, if it was to go smoothly and without any complications."

"Cool..." Jack murmured, nodding his head up and down. A trillion dollars. He wouldn't mind having that kind of money in his pocket.

"Yes..." The boss replied, seeming slightly frustrated with his nonchalance. "The plan is to kidnap all of the world leaders at the very same time, and then demand each country a hefty sum for their safe return."

"Ooook..." Jack started, leaning in with intrigue. "So...where do I come in?"

"Now, you're too young to be a villain just yet," The man said, leaning back into his chair, answering the question that he knew Jack was asking in his mind. "So don't get yourself too excited."

Jack scoffed angrily at his statement.

"Too young?" He exclaimed. "Age shouldn't matter if I'm capable enough."

"Well, age does matter when it comes to experience." The large man stated, tightly fixing his gaze upon Jack. "And you're only seventeen. I didn't start my first villain heist until I was twenty-three."

"Yeah, yeah, you've said a million times before." Jack huffed, turning his head away in frustration. "So, back to the question. Where do I come in?"

"You come in by doing your job!" The boss exclaimed, as if the answer was obvious. "Why else would I have called you here!? The International Villain Brotherhood hired you to intimidate non-complying villains into doing our will."

"Mm-hmm...I read the job description." Jack sneered, narrowing his eyes at the big boss.

"Hey! No need to get sarcastic!" The boss boomed heavily. "Remember, I don't have to give you this job! I'm risking my behind for you, so I would appreciate some co-operation!"

"You'll get co-operation," Jack argued quickly. "But the sarcastic tone comes bundled in the package."

"Yes..." The boss said, nodding in agreement, yet still seeming aggressive. "I guess it's needed in your job. Sarcasm does help with intimidation."

"So, who am I intimidating today then?" Jack questioned, sinking back in his seat with impatience.

"He's possibly one of the most ambitious and skilful villains I know." The boss explained. "I believe he tried to steal the moon..."

Jack's eyes widened immediately. Was he being serious? Surely not. In a short-lived spark of panic, he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Pftt...you want _ME_ to intimidate _FELONIUS_ _GRU_?" He exclaimed. With acrimony, he shook his head in doubt, looking at the boss like he'd transformed into a ghost. "There's no way I can do that! I'll be dead within a second!"

"Well...how can you expect to become a top-villain..." The boss said, leaning back in towards Jack. "...if you can't even intimidate another villain?"

"You _know_ I can intimidate other villains!" Jack snapped, leaning forward in his chair to meet him. "But Gru is just a step too far. Everyone who has tried something on him ended up disappearing without a trace! Surprisingly, _I_ don't want to be added to that list!" As he spoke, the boss emitted a low growl of anger, one of which Jack tried hard to ignore. "Plus I thought he'd gave up villainy to work with the AVL!"

"Once a villain, always a villain." The boss stated. "He must be using the AVL as a part of his next plot. He's a cunning fellow. That's why it is imperative that he is involved in this kidnapping plot."

Jack shook his head and slumped back down in his seat.

"It doesn't matter anyway..." He said. "I just...I can't intimidate Gru. His track-record is too risky for me to try."

"Jack..." The boss muttered sharply, giving him an angry glare. "I believe you said that _co-operation_ was bundled in that package!"

Jack knew he had him there. His only wish was to join the heights of the IVB's top villain ranks, and he knew there was no way he could do that without complying and co-operating with his boss's demands. With a huge sigh, the IVB agent gave in.

"I'll get right on it..." He mumbled in defeat, getting up to leave.

"Jack!" The boss yelped, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. "The art of villainy requires a good mind and good planning. Your usual methods will be useless against Gru. You need to devise a good enough tactic beforehand, or you _will_ be dead within a second! Got that!?"

Jack nodded solemnly, the thump of his heart beating against his ribs making itself apparent, before turning around and leaving through the big door.

For the first time, Jack actually had to think of a plan...

* * *

The stage in the lab was cluttered with around eleven minions, all of whom were fussing around with the large ray gun. They were moving it at different angles and directions, until finally, they were sure that it was ready to fire at the block of carbonite that was Dr. Nefario.

All the other minions, plus the whole Gru family, were watching from the seats in front of the stage, a countless amount of excited smiles flooding around the room.

"I can't wait to see Uncle Nefario again!" Agnes shrieked, bouncing up and down in her seat, much like Gru after the last nail had been hammered. The former villain peered down and presented a warm smile as he watched his daughter cheer with joy. He loved her excitement. It only seemed to add to his own excitement.

Unfortunately, the excitement of another person broke him out of his lucid thoughts, replacing his smile with a frown.

"Me _tooooo_!" Dru shrieked, jumping out of his seat.

"Ugh...yoo've never even met heem Dru! How can yoo be excited to see heem _again_!"

"Finnneee...meet heem den!" Dru responded frustratingly as he sat back down, still retaining that giddy smile of his.

With Dru, hours seemed to last an eternity...

"What if the minions don't turn the ray gun off in time and Nefario melts as well?!" Edith shouted, jumping up to stand on her seat and looking directly at her father, as if she wanted to scare him.

Well, she succeeded...

Gru felt the excitement replace itself with unbridled worry in an instant. He turned to send her a fiery frown, as the young tomboy grinned mischievously.

"Edith!" Margo snapped. With a level of comfort that spanned far beyond her years, she turned to face Gru and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure nothing like that will happen..."

"It could..." Edith jeered, leaning in closer to Gru. "What if the ray gun malfunctions and explodes and then we all get _killed_!"

Agnes gasped in fear, all indication of excitement erased, before leaping over and holding tightly onto Gru's arm. A few other minions who surrounded the family gasped in fear as well, jumping into each other's arms in a frightened cuddle.

This had no effect on Gru though. In all the years where the minions had been tasked with building a large weapon, not once did something go seriously wrong. He had total faith in their technological expertise, and knew that there wasn't a chance on earth that it would explode.

"Well, at least yoo'd shut up den..." Gru mocked through a joking smile, prompting everyone to laugh at Edith's expense. However, the nine-year-old didn't see the funny side, as she crossed her arms, sat back down and frowned in her seat.

Even though he was happy to laugh, Gru could still feel those worrying and doubtful thoughts that were sparked by his middle-daughter. And when one of the minions put his thumbs up to Gru to indicate that they were ready, a tinge of fright through his heart caused it to skip a beat.

"Um...maybe we shouldn't do dis now." He spoke carefully, turning to Lucy, trying hard to make sure his fear didn't show in his face. "Maybe...maybe we can find another way to unfreeze Nefario."

Lucy chuckled to see Gru get so worried. She put an arm around him, talking to him like he was a small child.

"Stop worrying, honey. Remember, this is a gun _the minions_ built. How could it possibly go wrong?"

Seeing her chance to scare Gru again, Edith jumped up from her seat and stared him right in the eyes.

"Well, what if-" She started, before being interrupted by Margo, who threw her hand across her mouth to stop her from talking. Gru's stress elevated as one of the minions waddled up to the button on the side of the gun and turned to him, waiting for the signal to press it.

After a few seconds of blankly staring at the minion, Gru remembered how much he missed Dr. Nefario's company. All the sad times he spent working on inventions without him. All the depressing times he would look over to Nefario's carbonite block, afraid that they would never get him out...

But now, there _was_ a way to get him out! How could he not go through with it!? Swallowing back his fears, he gulped and shone a fake smile, giving the minion a nod.

The minion jumped in excitement and slammed his little yellow hand on to the button. A huge whirring sound quickly filled the room, making Gru and Agnes jump into a fearful hug with each other. As the gun shook wildly with power, Dru and Edith stared with their mouths agape, drooling uncontrollably.

The two of them loved big guns...

Finally, after ten seconds of shaking, churning, drooling and hugging, the gun released a massive red laser and sent it flying at Dr. Nefario. The sound it made was deafening, causing every minion plus the whole family to jump back in their seats and shriek in fear.

After a moment, the block of carbonite started to shake with a red glow as it slowly melted down. Everyone in the room watched on in anticipation, hoping that soon, they would see Dr. Nefario look back at them.

Then, with a thundering boom, the block shattered into pieces and released Dr. Nefario, who stepped back and shook his head in a daze. He couldn't say anything, all he could do was turn to his family in confusion, eyeing them up inquisitively. After seeing his first movement for an indeterminate amount of time, the family couldn't hold back their joy.

"DR. NEFARIO!" Gru and Lucy yelped, running up to him.

"UNCLE NEFARIO!" The girls shrieked, running up to him.

"NERFROID!" Dru screamed, running over and picking him up in an uncomfortable hug.

"I-I...uh...what...who ar...what is..." Dr. Nefario stuttered. His mind run itself ragged with millions of questions, all of which he wanted to ask at the same time.

"I'm so happy to see yoo again, Nefario!" Gru shouted, cutting his stutters off. "Yoo've had me so worried!"

"Worried?" Dr. Nefario inquired, giving him a strange look. "What in blazes 'appened then?"

Gru's happy expression quickly transitioned into an angry one as his gaze threw itself towards a nearby minion.

"Well...Dave got a leettle too excited weeth de new carbonation ray..." He chastised, his tone quiet yet furious. "...and yoo got frozen in carbonite for two months."

The whole family turned to give Dave an angry stare, who put his head down and nervously chuckled, promptly shuffling away with a guilty walk.

"It took you _two months_ to get me out of carbonite!?" Dr. Nefario yelled.

"Well...yes...but...I didn't know what to do." Gru explained timidly.

"Pfft...I should've been out within two _minutes_!" Nefario exclaimed. With an expression full of rage, he flung his hands in the ray gun's direction, scoffing under his breath. "And you didn't have to make the ray gun that _big_!"

"Yoo know, a thank yoo would be nice!" Gru yelled, crossing his arms. Even though he seemed genuinely angry, inside, he was far from it. In the end, the constant irritation and lack of satisfaction was what Gru loved most about Nefario.

"God Gru, yoo're _so_ useless!" Dru mocked, giving his brother a playful shove, who eyed him up aggressively.

"And who's this loud fella?" Nefario asked rudely, giving Dru a stare of suspicion.

"Ugh...Dru meet Nefario." Gru sulked, his features sagging with exasperation. "Nefario, dis ees my twin brother D-"

"DRUUU!" Dru interrupted, yanking Nefario's hand and giving him a wild energetic handshake. "Nice to finally meet yoo, Nerfroid! I've heard a _lot_ of things about yooooo..."

"Uh...well, yes." Nefario nervously replied, prying his hand out of Dru's grasp. "Nice to meet you too...I think..."

"Yoo know, a leetle birdie told me yoo've been looking for a villain to join up weeth!" Dru responded, giving Nefario a menacing smirk. " _I'M_ YOUR MAN!"

Before Dr. Nefario could respond with his doubtful scoff, the three girls jumped into him and gave him a long hug, almost knocking him off his feet.

"I've missed you so much, Uncle Nefario!" Agnes cheered, holding tightly onto his leg.

"Haha, I missed you too." Nefario replied, giving them his first smile in two months.

"What's it like being frozen in carbonite?" Edith asked.

"I don't know," Nefario responded simply. "I can't remember a thing about it."

"Aww...that's boring." Edith sulked, crossing her arms and turning away from him in disappointment. Lucy chuckled before wandering up to Nefario and giving him a small kiss on the forehead.

"Nice to see you again, Doctor." She greeted. Nefario gave a small smile as a response, before shuffling off with a slow walk.

"Right...how much of a mess have you left my lab in then..." He muttered, sighing coldly.

Gru watched him walk away with a beaming smile, one of which he'd been holding back for the past few minutes. He'd really missed the way Nefario would annoy everyone around him with his aggravating condescension and grumpiness.

As Dr. Nefario disappeared and the room transitioned to silence, Gru rolled up his sleeve and inspected his digital watch, turning to face the girls after clarifying the time.

"Looks like eet's lunch time." He said. "What do yoo gurls fancy?"

Before they could respond with their barrage of food options, Dru leaped in front of his brother's line of sight and shouted his desired choice.

"OOO! Let's have hot dogs!"

"Yes! That sounds awesome!" Edith chirped. With blinding excitement, Dru turned around and picked up his three nieces, energetically prancing towards the lab's elevator for the kitchen. As Gru stared on with a mix of surprise and exasperation, Lucy slowly started following the rest of her family, giving Gru a mocking smirk as she strolled.

"Come on!" She spoke. "I'll help you make them."

Gru smirked in return before following on behind. The whole family shot up the elevator, which made things a little cramped, before emerging back into the living room. The girls and Dru sprinted out of the room towards the kitchen, while Gru and Lucy chuckled and followed behind with a small stroll.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"I've got eet." Gru proclaimed, diverting his attention to the front door.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Lucy asked.

"No, de gurls look starved!" He yelped. "Go get de hot dogs started, I'll be back een two seconds."

Gru opened the front door to find a young boy standing in front of him. He had long brown hair and very large biceps, which were practically bulging out of his scruffy grey hoodie. When Gru answered the door, he was looking away from him, as if he thought of himself as much cooler than everyone else in the world.

"Uh...can I help yoo?" Gru asked carefully, shooting the boy a suspicious look. With the question, he quickly turned his head and inspected the AVL agent, tearing him apart with an extremely fierce gaze.

"That depends if you're who I'm looking for." The boy stated sharply. For a boy so young and casual, his manner of speaking was fairly professional, as if he'd been working in an office for decades. "Are you _Felonious Gru_?"

With apprehension, Gru cleared his throat and answered nervously.

"Um...yes, dat would be me."

The boy smiled venomously before extending his arm out to offer a handshake. Gru accepted the handshake, but due to the mass amount of suspicion, didn't smile back.

"It's very nice to meet you, Gru." The boy greeted. For such an innocent greeting, the boy's voice sounded oddly evil, as if every sentence was a threat. "My name is Jack. At the minute, I require your assistance...and...I won't take _no_ as an answer."

Cautiously, Gru took a small step backward, affixing a watchful eye on him. Jack noticed his obvious fear, and even if he wanted to, couldn't hold back the satisfied menacing smirk.

"Um...dat...dat depends on what yoo need..." Gru replied, a hint of reluctance in his voice. Something here, he thought to himself, smelt fishy.

"Hmm..." Jack pondered, turning away from Gru in a small thought process. "Apologies, but I can't take _that_ as an answer either."

Before Gru even had a chance to react, Jack swiftly thundered forward and punched Gru _very hard_ , knocking him unconscious instantly. Within only ten seconds, Jack carried the former villain's body away from the doorstep and over to the van stationed on the curb.

Emitting a huge growl from the engine, Jack sped off down the road at speed before anyone could see him, escaping with his new hostage...

At this moment, Lucy emerged from the kitchen and looked down the hallway, inspecting the front step.

"Gru, honey. I heard a commoti-" She called, interrupting herself upon noticing the wide open front door. She nervously traipsed through the hallway, watching every nook and cranny, before peeking her head outside to analyse the front garden.

"Gru, honey...

...where have you gone?"

* * *

 _And with that, Chapter One comes to a close._

 _I hope you enjoyed it because I loved writing this one. I quite seem to like writing conflict scenes..._

 _The only issue was that I'm new to writing Dru and Nefario's characters. Did I do a good job, or did I mess it up completely?_

 _If you enjoyed this chapter or even downright hated it, please consider dropping a review. Not compulsory obviously, but it would be very much appreciated._

 _See you guys VERY soon with the next chapter! Excited to post it!_


	2. His Weakness

_So I return with the second chapter!_

 _Thanks to anyone who reviewed the last chapter._

 _To the guest who reviewed: Thanks for clarifying that. I really wasn't sure if I did a good job or not. Thanks for reviewing!_

 _Now enough talk! Let's return to the story..._

* * *

 **Chapter Two -  
** ** _His Weakness_**

The alarm clock rang to signal 7am. I woke up to that usual terrible feeling. I don't really know how to describe that feeling, but simply, it sucks. Sometimes, I wonder whether or not other ten-year-old boys wake up and feel the same.

I turned over and slammed my hand down on the alarm clock, making it stop. My stomach rumbled aggressively, but was there really any point in going to the kitchen? No-one will make me anything to eat. I'll just get something from the cupboard after I've finished my weight-lifting.

I wandered over to my personal dumbbells and started my bicep curls. My muscles mean a lot to me. They are huge, especially for a ten-year-old. People twice my age sometimes fear me, and that gives me a little bit of a kick.

After ten minutes of painful lifting, I picked up my clothes from off the floor and got myself changed. I opened the bedroom door and trudged down the hallway. That usual smell of damp wafted through the air, nothing out of the ordinary for this house.

I carefully tiptoed across the littered floor. It's always covered in dirty clothes and broken items. Nobody ever bothers to clean them up...

I wandered into the kitchen, where I found my mother at the table. As usual, she completely ignored me. She was too busy feeding my two-year-old sister.

 _'Thank god she bothers to feed her.'_ I thought to myself, as I fished through different cupboards in an attempt to find anything edible.

My father came bounding into the room a few seconds later, looking cheery and certainly jubilant.

"There's my two favourite gems!" He proclaimed, giving his wife and daughter a kiss. He gave me a small fierce glance, but I didn't bother to meet his gaze. I hate my father to the bottom of my core, and it will only make me beyond furious if I see his face.

I'll never forgive him for what he tried to do to me...

"We need to leave early today, honey." My mother stated. "Work called. Supposedly, they urgently need us."

"Do you think the nursery will mind if we drop her off early?" My father asked, gesturing to my little sister.

"It should be okay." She replied. "We should probably get ourselves ready, if we want to get there in time."

"Good thinking." He said. Once my sister got through the whole tiny pot of baby-food, my parents darted out of the room to get washed up and dressed, completely ignoring me again.

As soon as they were gone, I smiled and wandered over to the little toddler in the kitchen, giving her a large kiss on the forehead. I love my little sister to bits. She's the only one in my family who I give a damn about, even if she can't talk just yet.

"I love you." I whispered in her ear, making her giggle. I grabbed a toy train that was set down nearby and started to play with her. I love spending time with my little sister, even if I didn't get to do it much. My parents would purposely take her away from me, as if to strangle every chance of happiness in my life.

Time flew past, and before I knew it, it was 7:40. With a large buzz and a ring, my phone gathered my attention and I fished it out of my pocket, answering it immediately.

"Hey, Dar." I greeted. "How's it going?"

"Not bad like." Darren replied. "I'm outside your crib, bro. Get out here."

"I'll just be two minutes." I replied. "Gotta look after my sis until mom and dad take her to nursery."

"Well speed it up, yeah." Darren exclaimed. "I wanna spend as much time as possible on the swing before we go to school."

"Yeah, yeah." I replied, giving my sister a little pinch on the cheek, making her smile as bright as a bulb. She was so incredibly adorable. It only made me love her that little bit more. "See you in a bit."

I put the phone away and walked over to the top cupboard, where I grabbed one of the granola bars that were inside. With pace, my mother came running back into the kitchen, where she grabbed my sister and started for the front door.

A minute later, I followed on behind, where I saw Darren standing impatiently outside the front gate.

"Took your time, bro."

"Well, I can't leave my sis on her own, can I?" I replied, as we started wandering towards the small wood nearby.

"You probably could for a bit." Darren responded. Like a flash of lightning, I sent him a fiercely aggressive glare, one of which frightened him a little.

"No way!" I exclaimed. The very thought of leaving her all alone hurt enough. "What...what if something _bad_ happened to her!? I just...I wouldn't...I couldn't even-"

"Bro, calm down." Darren spoke softly, holding his arms out as if to surrender. "I was just joking."

"Yeah, I...I know! I'm sorry..." I replied quickly. I didn't even know where that sudden outburst came from, but the very suggestion of neglecting my sister made me instantly angry. She's all I have left. If I lost her, what would I do with my life? I didn't even want to think about it. "Anyway, let's just get to this rope swing."

* * *

After spending half-an-hour on the swing, we walked through the school gates, where we were met by the school bully, Russell. Russell never talked to me much, since he knew about my huge biceps and short temper, but he did like to mess with Darren a lot.

"Hey, stick boy." Russell welcomed dryly, pushing Darren. "Still lookin' ugly as hell, I see."

"Shut up, Rus." Darren replied, looking down at the ground sheepishly.

"Only friends can call me, Rus." Russell replied dangerously, looming over him. "Stick boys like you call me Russell."

"Do me a favour _Russell_ , take off yeah!" I spoke with an aggressive tone.

"This ain't got nothin' to do with you, loner-kid." He jeered, turning to me. "Come back when your parents actually give one!"

At light-speed, I flung forward and shoved Russell with all of my might, sending him crashing into a nearby thorn bush.

"WHAT'D YOU JUST SAY!?" I shouted. He looked up at me angrily, as if he wanted to lunge up and tear me apart, but he seemed to be scared off by the harsh death stare I was giving him. With a growl of defeat, he got up and walked away without saying another word.

He was very lucky I didn't punch all of his teeth out...

"You didn't need to do that." Darren said jokingly. "I could've handled it."

"Yeah, yeah, sure..." I replied, shooting him a doubtful look. "Let's just get to class."

* * *

After we got into class, our teacher explained a few things about today's lesson, but I didn't pay attention. In all honestly, I couldn't care less. I was extremely tired of my rubbish life, and I just wanted to go off and start a new one.

 _'Maybe I could just run away from home and start again.'_ I thought to myself. _'Nahh...I could never leave my sister.'_

After around ten minutes of thinking to myself, the principal opened the door and called my name, grabbing my attention immediately. I gave him a quizzical look, and he returned a fearful one, as if he was scared of seeing me. I was really confused, but instead of just awkwardly sitting there while the whole class looked at me, I got up and left the room with him.

The principal took me to his office and sat me down. He looked the most frightened I'd ever seen anyone before in my whole life.

"Take a seat." He said blankly. I sat down beside his desk and he sat down opposite me, giving me a saddened look. I was beyond confused at this point, and before he could speak, I chimed in.

"What's going on?" I interrogated.

"Son, I've got some _very_ bad news." He started dejectedly, looking at me with a huge deal of trepidation. "I just received a call from the hospital. Your...your mother and father have been involved in a...car crash."

My heart skipped a beat, and I straightened up in my seat with total shock. I looked at him with dread. I tried to say something, anything, but before I could speak, the principal continued.

"They've...um...they've..." He started, his eyes glimmering a little with tears. This had me even more afraid. "They've been pronounced...dead."

"Was my sister in the crash?" I asked almost instantly. I needed the answer, but at the same time, I really didn't want to know.

"No..." He answered, looking at me questioningly. He was obviously expecting me to cry or flip out. I would've if he'd said yes. "The hospital said it was just your mother and father."

I sighed with relief inside. That meant that they must've crashed after dropping her off at the nursery. I couldn't care less about my parents. I hated them with every fibre of my being. They honestly deserved to die for the way they treated me. The only thing that I cared about was...

...that little Edith was safe.

* * *

Gru woke up with a terrible pain bulging across his right eye. His head severely ached. He wanted to open his eyes, but he was too afraid about where he was going to be and what was going to happen. However, he kept himself calm, deciding to open his eyes quickly and find a way to get himself safe as soon as possible.

As he opened them, he was met by the sight of a large and empty room. It didn't take long for him to recognize his surroundings. When he was a villain, he used to use a large warehouse in the rough part of town as a discreet meet up location with other villains. This is where he was right now.

He had been placed atop a wooden chair, with his arms strapped around his back and his ankles strapped around the legs of the chair. He squirmed and fidgeted in the hopes that the bands would weaken and snap, but they were held together solidly.

Suddenly, the young boy from before emerged from the darkness. The stare he was giving him almost made him shudder. He looked cold on the outside, and chances are, his insides were no different.

"Ah, you're awake." He greeted softly, yet aggressively. "You took your time."

"Who de hell are yoo!?" Gru screamed weakly. The pain in his eye and his head made it very difficult to talk.

"Oh, were you not interested enough to listen before?" The boy inquired threateningly, walking towards him. "I'll reintroduce myself then. And this time, _listen_! My name is Jack. I need assistance. You can provide me with that."

"What makes yoo say dat?" Gru responded sharply. "I don't usually assist people who kidnap me."

"Fair point." Jack replied, putting his hands on his hip. "But what I need is a lot more beneficial for you than it is me."

"What...what on _earth_ are yoo on about?" Gru yelled. He was trying his best to be intimidating, but it was certainly difficult to do that when you're helplessly strapped to a chair.

"I work for the International Villain Brotherhood." Jack replied, giving Gru a menacing smile. "Or...IVB for short."

"De IVB?" Gru questioned, his eyes widening. The International Villain Brotherhood always got what they wanted...

...no matter the cost.

"Yes." Jack replied hastily. "They want you to be involved with a very large heist that they are planning out. Let's just say...they are in need of skill. And you are certainly someone with plenty of skill."

"Wow." Gru cooed, putting his head down in thought. "But, what's weeth de kidnapping!?"

"Each organisation has different methods." Jack stated, walking back and forth in front of him. "Ours are a little...unorthodox. But, the IVB are _villains_. You shouldn't expect a pampering recruitment."

"Yes...well, eet doesn't matter anyway." Gru said sharply. "I've geeven up on dat life. I work for de AVL now."

"I know." Jack replied quickly. "But let's be real here Gru, no-one just gives up on a life of villainy. It's just not possible. Once a villain, always a villain."

A few years ago, Gru would've agreed with his logic. But now, he knew that it was far from the truth. It _is_ possible to give up on a life of villainy if you fall in love. The girls and Lucy showed him that. He wanted to tell Jack this, but in the effort of safety, he also needed to keep his family a secret from any villain organisations. His precious wife and daughters would be put in critical danger if they were made aware of their existence.

"Well...een dis case," Gru started. "Dere ees an exception. I am no longer affiliated weeth villainy!"

"I know you're lying to me Gru!" Jack screamed, causing the AVL agent to wince in fright. "I know that the whole AVL thing is just a cover for a huge plot. I respect you for keeping it a secret, but the IVB's plans are a lot more important than your stupid little scheme."

"Dere ees no scheme." Gru insisted. "I really have geeven up on villainy."

Jack scoffed loudly, obviously unconvinced, before approaching Gru with a sense of danger. He tensed his huge muscles as an extra layer of intimidation.

"Do you know what my job is with the IVB?" Jack interrogated, giving Gru a dangerous glare.

"I don't really care..." Gru sneered, turning away unfazed. "But yoo're steel gonna talk about eet aren't yoo."

Jack clenched his fists in anger, as he nodded slowly. The ire in his eyes mirrored the likes of which Gru had never seen before.

"I'm hired to intimidate villains into doing work for the IVB!" Jack boomed. "Or in other words, I'm here to intimidate _YOU_ into doing work for the IVB! If you do not comply, I will splatter your brains across the wall!"

Gru felt a lump form in his throat, and with it, the sense of panic. He didn't want to die, he didn't want to work for the IVB, and he didn't want to risk his family's lives. He didn't answer, instead electing to keep himself quiet. With an internal prayer, he hoped Jack had just been bluffing.

The IVB agent took his silence as an answer. He had been trained to intimidate, but it wasn't a successful tactic on some people. These people are entirely arrogant, and they won't be persuaded into doing anything, no matter how hard you try. These people cannot be forced, and according to the IVB's guidelines, they _must_ be killed.

Gru was one of those people...

"Very well." Jack spoke solemnly. His boss was going to be disappointed, that his plan would not involve the man who stole the moon, but this was the protocol that he had been trained to follow. He reached into his back pocket to reveal a pistol, which he pointed at Gru's head. "I hate it when it comes to this...but you leave me with no other choice."

Gru gulped and closed his eyes.

This was it. He was going to die.

He could lie and say that he would join the IVB with their plan, but if they realized that he wasn't actually going to follow through, they could kill him _and_ his family...

"Goodbye, gurls. Goodbye, Lucy. I...I love yoo all." He muttered under his breath.

He wanted his last words to be meaningful.

Jack heard his final goodbyes and his eyes widened. He took his finger off the trigger, narrowing his eyes at the bald hostage, but kept the gun pointed directly at his head.

"What did you say!?" Jack exclaimed. Gru didn't respond. He couldn't let his last words be overwritten.

Jack looked at Gru with a hollow gaze of guilt. He'd heard what he'd said. He muttered his goodbyes to his girls and someone called Lucy.

They must be his...family. Without hesitation, he lowered the gun to his side, sighing in defeat.

Every since he'd left prison, Jack knew his destiny was to be a villain. The realization seemed to come overnight, but when the desire made itself clear, all he could think about was how to bring it into fruition. But, there was something that he refused to do, villainy or not...

Upon noticing the guilt in Jack's expression, Gru glared at him in befuddlement as the room remained eerily silent.

"Aren't yoo going to kill me?" He questioned.

"So...you have a family." Jack mumbled quietly, not responding to Gru's question. "It makes sense why you gave up on villainy then."

Oh, how different Jack's life would be if he still had his family. It wouldn't have been all fun and happiness, but if he still had that shining beacon of hope in his life, the desire for villainy wouldn't have transpired.

Gru eyed him with a look of shock. Anyone who works for the IVB are cold-blooded killers, who took no prisoners and ended the lives of anyone they saw fit. But, this boy seemed quite the opposite. He actually seemed guilty for pointing the gun at him in the first place. Seeing his chance to escape, Gru pounced upon his weakness, jeering him with a grin.

"Are yoo sure dat yoo work for de IVB?" Gru asked mockingly, hoping to frustrate the boy. "Because yoo seem weak to me..."

Jack clenched his fists and approached him quickly, putting his finger in his face.

"I am NOT weak." He insisted darkly, making Gru flinch a little. "I just have a line! And you've crossed that line."

"I don't understand." Gru spoke apprehensively.

"I can't kill you if you have a family." Jack explained, looking away sadly and creating a bit of distance between the two. "Protocol says I _have_ to kill you if you're not willing to comply, and not following it will put my job at risk, but I'm willing to take that risk."

"But...why?" Gru inquired, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"My reasons are my own." Jack replied, darting his expression quickly towards him. "I'll tell my boss that you're unavailable for recruitment and that you have family matters to attend to."

Realizing that his family could become known within the villain world, Gru quickly stuttered in panic before speaking.

"I do _NOT_ have a family!" He yelled defensively. "I just don't want to be involved weeth de IVB! Dat's eet! Dere ees notheeng else to eet dan dat!"

Jack smirked at his statement. He may be young and probably quite innocent, but when it came to villains, he had a lot of knowledge on how they behaved. His job had forced him to encounter dozens of them before.

Some of them never made it out of their encounters alive...

He knew how their minds worked, and through plenty of prior experience, had learnt to see through their lies and manipulation. Right now, Gru was using that same technique. Shouting and remaining deadly insistent, in the hopes of scaring their victims into believing their lies.

"I know that you're lying to protect them." Jack spoke calmly. "I understand that...and I will respect that."

"What do yoo mean by dat?" Gru asked, lifting his head in confusion.

"I mean, that I'll make up an excuse for you." Jack explained, approaching Gru again. "No-one has to know that they exist."

Gru found himself unconsciously smiling. What a gesture! A part of him actually felt quite grateful for such a nice act, and it came from an IVB agent no less.

However, with that reminder, he quickly shook away his thoughts. This kid _was_ an IVB agent. They were cunning when it came to trickery and deceit, and could simply be lulling him into a false sense of security.

"Now, let's get you back to your family before they get worried." Jack stated. As Gru went to speak his next sentence, which most likely would've involved a lengthy discussion on how he truly doesn't have a family and that any suggestion of that was absurd, Jack threw himself forward and delivered a harsh punch, one of which knocked Gru unconscious again instantly.

He undid the bands on Gru's wrists and legs before carrying his inanimate body out to his van, planning the excuse to the boss in his head as he did so. With swift speed, Jack pushed down on the accelerator and thundered his van out of the warehouse's parking lot, crashing into a few lampposts as he did so.

The two IVB spies took it all down in their notes as they secretly followed on behind...

* * *

"Thank god you unfroze me today then." Nefario blurted, ushering Lucy to follow him towards the super-computer room.

"Yep." Lucy replied, her voice quivering, worry planted deep in her face. "It was pretty good timing."

"Look, love." Nefario began, still walking forward and not looking towards her. "It'll be alright. The super-computer will track his phone's signal, and we'll send an army of minions to save him and get the bugger who kidnapped him."

"B-But, what if we're too late!?" Lucy exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. "I mean, it's been over an hour since he disappeared and there's still no sign of him! Anything could've happened!"

"It won't be too late..." Nefario replied soothingly. "I'm sure of it!"

The two emerged into the super-computer room, where Nefario sat down in front of the huge monitor and pressed a multitude of buttons on the long keyboard in front of him. Lucy watched on with pure fear, her mind blinded with terrifying thoughts.

"Mom?" Margo questioned suddenly, her head appearing in the doorway. "Where's dad?"

In a moment of shock, Lucy spun around and unintentionally revealed her worried face and tear stained cheeks.

"Margo!" Lucy exclaimed. "How...how did you know we were here? Did you follow us...?"

"Uh...yeah." Margo stated, watching Lucy inquisitively. "What's going on? Why are you crying?"

"Oh, no. It's nothing, Margo." Lucy responded, attempting to hide her face and brush away her tears. "It's just hay fever, that's all."

"Ooook," Margo spoke. She wasn't convinced. "So, back to the question...where's dad?"

Lucy started racking her mind for a believable excuse, one of which will convince Margo almost instantly. But, with a little bit of thought, she realized that Margo was probably old and mature enough to handle the truth. It was sure to get her panicked, and probably very upset, but with enough reassurance, Margo could keep herself composed. Lucy _knew_ she could.

"Margo, listen. I don't want you to overreact, okay?" Lucy instructed, rushing over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Your father has gone missing, and...I think he's been kidnapped."

"What!?" Margo exclaimed, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping open in fear.

"I know, I know! This is _super_ bad!" Lucy blurted, barely holding back the urge to scream in panic. "But, you need to help me and the doctor out! If we do enough, we might be able to save him! And also, don't tell your sisters! If they found out, it will really _really_ scare them, so keep it shut, okay."

Margo looked out of the doorway fearfully for a moment, before returning her gaze back to Lucy.

"Umm...that's where we have a problem..." She spoke sheepishly. At this moment, Edith and Agnes appeared at the doorway, their faces alight with dread and terror. It didn't take a genius to realize that they'd heard everything.

"Dad's been kidnapped!" Edith yelled. By the look on her face, it was clear she really wanted Lucy to tell her otherwise. To tell her that this was all just a really horrible and slightly morbid joke. But, as much as she didn't want to think about it, she knew that all of this was true and that her father really had been kidnapped.

For a second, Lucy simply stood there and looked at the two, a little unsure of what to say. She was still learning the whole motherly role, so she really had no clue on how to direct this conversation.

"It'll...it'll be okay." She choked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What if we never see him again...?" Agnes whimpered, the tears streaming down her face.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't cry." Lucy said in panic, leaning down and wrapping her arms around her youngest daughter's back. "Everything will be fine, sweetie. I know it will."

"But you don't _know_ that!" Edith argued aggressively. She looked more angry than sad with this news, even if the tears were very close to surfacing. "You're just _saying_ that!"

Before Lucy could respond, the super-computer made a very loud beep that instantly attracted everyone's attention.

"Wait! The computer's located Gru's phone signal!" Nefario exclaimed, as he clicked more and more buttons on the keyboard, becoming more frantic as time went on.

"Oh, thank god!" Lucy cheered with a sigh of relief, as she ran over to stand beside Nefario. "Where is he?"

After more swift button pushing, Nefario loudly slammed his palm upon the keyboard, instructing the screen to display his co-ordinates.

"Umm..." Nefario began, looking up at the screen in confusion. "He's outside the doorstep..."

Lucy gasped, the girls giving huge sighs of relief behind her, before sprinting out of the room. After whizzing up the elevator and emerging back into the house, the four ran out to the front door and flung it open, almost snapping it off the hinges. They found Gru laying comotosed on the floor, two large bruises populating his face.

"Oh my god!" Lucy gawked, leaping down to Gru's side. "Honey? Honey!? Are you okay!?"

With a long moan of discomfort, Gru turned and shifted his head before opening his eyes. Upon noticing his wife and kids, Gru's eyes lit up with joy and he sat up at speed.

"Lucy!" He bellowed, pulling her in for a suffocating hug. "I thought I was a goner!"

"What happened to you?" Margo asked as she knelt down beside her father.

"Yeah, you got some wicked bruises." Edith spoke, as she too walked to stand beside him. As he went to answer the question, a sharp realization hit him like a truck and every thought was quickly consumed. He spun his gaze across the neighbourhood, searching for anything suspicious, before jumping up and grabbing his family in panic.

"Everyone eenside! _Now_!" Gru yelled as he ushered his wife and daughters through the front door.

"Wh-why!?" Lucy quizzed. Without responding, Gru slammed the front door shut and ran into the living room, his family following shortly behind.

Dru was quietly watching TV as the family barged in. He must've only just started watching it, as when the elevator erupted from the lab, he was nowhere to be seen.

Gru grabbed the TV remote hastily and pressed a finger upon a big yellow button. After a few flashes of static, the TV transitioned from the show and displayed a feed of the lab, which showed Dr. Nefario silently strolling back into the main area.

" _Heyyyyyy_!" Dru moaned, sinking back into his seat on the sofa. "I was watching dat!"

"DR. NEFARIO!" Gru yelled, startling the doctor a little.

"Gru!" He replied, analysing his disgruntled appearance. "Those are some nasty bruises! What on earth 'appened?"

"Long story!" He stated impatiently. "I need yoo to put de house's security system on maxeemum alert! Also, tell a dozen of de minions to come up here and patrol de surroundeengs of de house. Make sure dey are armed to de teeth!"

"Oh...uh...I'm on it!" Nefario stated, moving off screen to complete his task. With another press of a button, the TV screen switched off and the room was plunged into a confused silence.

"What's going on!?" Lucy questioned.

"Sometheeng very, _very_ bad." Gru explained, giving her a deadly serious look. "Yoo and de gurls need to stay eenside for a while! _Nobody_ can leave! We all need to keep low profiles!"

"Low profiles?" Lucy inquired, looking beyond puzzled and irritated. "Will you just start making some sense, please! Where did you go earlier!?"

"Look, some guy from de IVB kidnapped me, and tried to get me to join een weeth deir stupeed leetle heist." He answered quickly. "Obviously, I refused de offer, and of course, as you know weeth de IVB, he had to kill me eef I refused to co-operate. He was literally about to do eet, but he stopped heemself right at de last second, when I...I..."

He hesitated and interrupted himself, slowly peering over at the girls, who were giving him looks of stunned shock.

"When you what?" Lucy chimed, diverting Gru's gaze back to her. Gru considered mentioning his last words, but he figured that doing so would probably upset them a great deal. He did, of course, say his goodbyes as he stared down the barrel of a handgun. So, to avoid a very upsetting confession, he sugar-coated his explanation.

"...when I...mentioned yoo." He muttered weakly. Lucy's lips parted for a second, a flash of anger crossing her pupils, before she spoke.

"Do you really think that making the IVB aware of your family is a good idea?" She asked.

"I deedn't know what else to do!" Gru exclaimed. "And een de end, eet saved my life!"

"Wait." Margo interrupted, as she wandered over to stand in front of Gru and Lucy. "Who are the IVB?"

"Dey're an evil organisation dat forces villains to get involved weeth deir large heists." Gru explained. "Some villains relish de opportunity to be involved, while other villains are a leetle more reluctant. If yoo don't comply weeth deir demands and reject de offer, den dey...dey _kill_ yoo!"

All three of the girls and Dru gave a gasp of shock.

"Are you gonna die, daddy?" Agnes whimpered, tears reappearing in her eyes. As if someone hit him across the head with a hammer, Gru ran over and comforted his youngest child, trying to halt the tears before they emerged.

"No, sweetie." He stated, touching her shoulder reassuringly. "De man said dat he won't kill me. I'm gonna be perfectly fine."

Agnes a gave a small smile before putting her arms around Gru's neck in a tight embrace. Now that he had gotten so close to death, Gru felt all the more grateful to have Agnes to hold, considering he was almost ripped the opportunity of ever doing so again.

"But yoo're not even a villain any more!" Dru exclaimed, clearly offended that he wasn't the one being selected by the IVB. "Why would dey want _yoo_?!"

"Dey theenk de whole AVL theeng ees just a cover-up for an evil plot." Gru replied. "Dat guy wouldn't believe me when I told heem dat eet wasn't. But, to be honest, I wouldn't expect an IVB employee to believe anytheeng I say."

"So, how did mentioning all of us save your life?" Lucy asked.

"I don't even know!" He blurted, shrugging his shoulders. "After I mentioned yoo, he turned from a cold-blooded killer to a polite young man. He must've just knocked me unconscious again and dumped me outside de house! Let's just say, eef dat was any other IVB employee, theengs could've turned sour fast!"

"This is just so confusing." Lucy said, pacing around the room in thought. "What did you say about us that made him let you go?"

Gru smiled sheepishly, turning away from everyone, before confessing with a barely audible tone.

"Just...how much I love yoo." He muttered. Everyone smiled warmly in unison, their shoulders sagging in a touching silence, before Gru perked up again and changed the subject. "He den told me dat he just couldn't kill me eef I have a family."

"Very strange," Lucy replied, her warm smile still lingering. "Especially for an IVB agent."

"So, anyway, dat ees why no-one ees allowed to leave de house unteel I say otherwise." Gru demanded.

He remembered that Jack had promised that he wouldn't tell anyone about his family's existence, but there's no way he could trust an IVB agent to stand with their word.

Something deep down was telling him that he would be crossing paths with Jack again soon...

* * *

Jack strolled into the IVB's waiting room and trudged over to the reception desk.

"Jack to see the boss." He stated. The receptionist gave him another fierce glare, still seeming just as lethargic and frustrated as she always was, before pressing a small red button on the table.

"Sir, you have a visitor." She informed.

"Who is it?" The boss replied, his large voice booming across the speakers.

"It's Agent Jack."

"Send him in!"

"You may en-" The receptionist started sternly, before Jack scowled and cut her off aggressively.

"Yeah, I can hear the speakers!" He boomed. "I'm not deaf!"

The receptionist looked both offended and taken aback by those words, but before giving her the chance to respond with whatever angry retort she could come up with, Jack stormed through the large wooden door and down to the chair in front of the boss's desk.

"Sir!" Jack yelled, preparing himself for the aggressive confrontation that was about to unfold. "I'm removing myself from the Gru job, I just can't do it!"

The boss slowly spun around in his chair, his face looking ripe with anger.

"What do you mean you're removing yourself from the job!?" He bellowed.

"I've found out some information that makes it impossible for me to continue." Jack replied promptly. "I'm sorry."

"Pftt...pathetic." The boss muttered. "So, what information did you find out that has made it impossible for you to continue?"

"I can't tell you that, sir." Jack replied, keeping a heavy gaze placed upon the boss. There was silence for a few seconds before the boss finally spoke.

"Do you think that I am stupid, boy?" The boss muttered furiously, standing up out of his chair and towering over Jack. Jack could be considered tall himself, but when it came to the boss, he looked like an ant. "This is _my_ organisation. I know every piece of information that emerges from every assignment I give out and I know full well what's stopping you from doing this! You are weak!"

"I am NOT weak!" Jack yelled, inching closer to the boss. "And how would you know about this piece of information? Did you have a spy on me or something?"

The boss chuckled.

"You are such a waste of potential." He said, sitting back down gruffly. "You have a good brain, you aren't afraid to stand up for yourself, and you have the strength to take down a fully developed elephant. But you let that stupid family philosophy of yours overwrite all of that! _Yes_ I had a spy! Two in fact! They told me everything that happened! How Gru has a family now and how that's the reason why you let him go!"

"Look, I know you probably didn't listen when you got those agents to kidnap me, but my childhood was _very_ difficult!" Jack bellowed. "I know what it feels like to lose someone! I just can't kill someone with a family in good conscience!"

"CONSCIENCE!?" The boss screamed loudly, standing up straight and shaking as if he was about to erupt. "You seriously think you can make it as a villain if you have a conscience!?"

Jack stood there for a few seconds and thought to himself. He over-viewed his entire life in his mind, which wasn't particularly pleasant considering how awful it had been so far, before throwing up a huge question...

 _'Do I actually want to become a villain?'_ He wondered to himself.

"Now, I like you Jack." The boss stated nonchalantly, falling back into his seat. "You could become a great villain if you just allow yourself to challenge your emotions. I don't fully understand how a bad childhood and killing someone's dad correlates, but I do think that you can break out of it. I'm going to give you one last chance with this last assignment, to prove your worth and skill. It'll be very difficult for you, but if you do it successfully, you'll grow up to be the perfect villain."

"So, what's the assignment?" Jack asked quietly and angrily, resisting the urge to just storm out of the room that second.

"Kill Gru's family."

* * *

 _And on that note, I think it's time to leave Chapter Two there._

 _As I say always, I seriously hope you enjoyed it. If you did, or if you hated it, please review down below!_

 _Now I'm feeling very tired after this five-hour writing session, so I think I'm gonna turn in._

 _See you guys in Chapter Three!_


	3. That Girl

_I return with another chapter!_

 _Thanks to anyone who reviewed the last chapter. It really does mean a lot._

 _As usual, I hope you guys enjoy and let's just get going!_

* * *

 **Chapter Three -  
** _ **That Girl**_

I reluctantly walked through the living room and sat adjacent to a very important looking man. He wore a black suit and held a small clipboard, which he was writing upon when I entered. My social worker followed and sat beside me, holding several folders full of paperwork, all of which looked as important as it did boring.

As I sat down, the important man took a breath, obviously a method of mentally preparing himself, before peering up at me, giving a smile of reassurement. However, it looked strange, as if he wasn't accustomed to smiling.

"Hey there." He spoke lightly. "Today must've been difficult for you, huh?"

"A little." I replied, giving a small shrug. "But as long as my sister's safe then I'll be fine."

Immediately, my mind interrupted all thoughts and alerted me, telling me to check where she was. From last I knew, she was sitting in the kitchen, playing with her social worker gleefully. Her social worker seemed much nicer than the one I had, who in all honesty, was a miserable cow.

I was worried for my little sis. I couldn't care less about my parents dying, since they were just a hindrance in my life, but her entire life could be ruined by this event. All I wanted to do was stay beside her, ensuring she was kept safe from harm.

"Well...I've brought you in here to talk a little about your sister." He began carefully. Upon mentioning her, my attention was diverted, and I eyed the important man suspiciously. "As you know, you will both be placed into orphanages and put up for adoption."

"Well, yeah, obviously." I retorted. As his sentences flowed, I was becoming more and more apprehensive. He looked incredibly reluctant to continue speaking, as if he was frightened to release the words. This didn't help with my own fear.

"The only problem is..." He started, looking away from me. "...your...your sister will be too young to join the same orphanage as you."

For a few moments, my heart stopped dead. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening. This was just a sick nightmare, that's all.

"No." I replied weakly. It was the only word I could remember.

"I'm afraid so." He corrected slowly. "I will ensure that the two of you are reunited when she becomes old enough to join the same orphanage as you."

My mind threw up a million questions. With a blink of shock, I lowered my head and spoke, asking him one of those dreaded questions.

"So...how old is that?"

"Well, the minimum age of your orphanage is six years old, so-"

"SIX YEARS OLD!?" I screamed, standing up and clenching my fists in anger. "You're telling me I have to wait _four years_ until I can see my sister again!?"

"Um..." The man responded, looking deathly afraid.

"Could you please just sit down!" My social worker yelled.

"You gonna make me!?" I retorted. This was all happening too fast. I could feel my anger boiling inside me like magma inside a volcano.

"Look...just please calm down." The man muttered softly. "I know it's a long wait, one of which will be very hard for you, but the moment she hits the age threshold, I'll ensure the two of you are reunited."

"You will, huh?!" I yelled doubtfully, turning back towards him. "What if she gets adopted while she's at her orphanage! Are we gonna be reunited _THEN_!?"

The important man was stumped. He knew I was correct. If she gets adopted, I will never see her again. He looked down to the ground in thought, trying his best throw something up that will appease me.

I was provided with my answer...

In a blinding shock of rage, I leaned forward and snatched the lamp from a nearby coffee table. With a huge swing, I smashed it across the important man's head, knocking him unconscious in almost an instant.

I didn't know just how much that decision would cost me...

* * *

"Not happening." Jack stated for the fifth time.

"You have no choice!" The boss screamed, putting his sharp finger in his face. "If you do not kill his family, we will be forced to re-evaluate your position with the IVB!"

"I don't care!" Jack yelled. "I just...I can't do it!"

"Look..." The boss muttered angrily. "I will present the information my spies have dug up on each of the family members, and then, you can make your choice! Understand?!"

"What makes you think that looking at their profiles will make me change my mind!?" Jack bellowed. The boss slammed his fist down _hard_ on the table, making the agent flinch in fear.

"Well then _THIS_ will make you change your mind!" The boss exclaimed. "You either do it, or I will have you killed!"

Jack felt his heart miss a few beats. He knew he wasn't bluffing. He'd seen him torture and kill non-complying agents before. In fact, the very first time he arrived at the IVB, he'd seen the deaths of five separate people.

Even though Jack was the cause of those deaths, it was obviously still orchestrated by the big boss.

With a dry intake of air, Jack closed his eyes and dropped his head, stewing in defeat.

"Fine..." He muttered. "Just...show me the information."

"Good." He replied strongly. As the boss fumbled underneath his table, Jack took a seat and eyed him up furiously. He hated losing arguments. Whenever he did, he wanted to rip off the heads of everyone nearby in pure rage. That desire was probably unhealthy, but considering the things Jack had done in his life, he couldn't have cared less. With a victorious smirk, the boss re-emerged and slid one of the family's profiles across the desk.

"This is his wife." He stated.

Jack reached down and picked up the profile, scanning the information presented on the paper. It said that her name was 'Lucy Wilde' and that she was 38 years old. It stated that she worked for the AVL, and on the field, she was a strong, but not very smart fighter. A picture of a very tall red head was placed to the left of all the details.

"How did you get all this information?" Jack asked, gawking at the details in bewilderment.

"My spies are very well trained." The boss replied, seeming slightly insulted that Jack could ask such a stupid question. "Any information they want, they will get!"

Jack nodded impressively as he placed the paper back down on the desk. Promptly, the boss slid over the next profile.

"This is his eldest daughter." He stated. Jack didn't even bother picking the paper up.

"Daughter!?" He bellowed. "You...you want me to kill a _kid_!?"

"Why not?" The boss questioned with confusion. "They're just as human as anyone else you've killed! The only difference is that they've been on the planet for a little less longer."

With the umpteenth sigh, Jack reached down and picked up the paper.

It was set out the same as the other profile. A picture of a smart looking brown haired girl with glasses was placed on the left. The details said that her name was 'Margo Gru' and that she was 12 years old. It also read that she'd been adopted for use in a plan against some villain named Vector, but that wasn't the piece of information that made his stomach flip.

"Jeez...I'm gonna throw up." He muttered, shaking his head. "She's so...young."

"Jack..." The boss began threateningly. "This isn't how a villain reacts now, is it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jack replied, sighing in exasperation. "Is there anyone else in his family?"

"Three others actually." The boss replied, sliding over another profile. Jack picked it up and read it.

Again, a picture of a very young looking black-haired girl with a huge ponytail was placed to the left. The details read that her name was 'Agnes Gru' and that she was 6 years old. Again, it said about how she was adopted for use in Gru's scheme. Jack hung his head in shame, putting the paper back down with the others.

 _'Can I really kill a 6 year old?'_ He thought to himself, looking up at his boss and sighing.

"I'm starting to hate villainy..." He muttered angrily. With a cold chuckle, the boss slid over the next profile. Jack closed his eyes as he picked up, not wanting to know the age of this next person. It would be a surprise if they were old enough to talk. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and read it.

A picture of a blonde man was placed to the left. The details read that his name was 'Dru Gru' and that he was 50 years old. It read that he was Gru's twin brother and that he was also a villain.

"Why do you want me to kill this guy?" Jack asked, placing the paper down. "He's a villain! You could use him!"

"Yes, I know." The boss replied. "But he's incompetent. It would be easier to just get rid of him, to ensure that Gru has no other distractions."

"If you say so..." Jack murmured. The boss slid over the last profile and Jack picked it up.

A picture of a young blonde girl with a pink hat was placed to the left. Jack's mouth dropped like a stone when he read about her name, age and adoption. Did he read it wrong? There was no way any of this was true. Maybe the spies got it wrong, because the chances of this happening are slim to none. With one last sharp glance at the picture, he slammed the paper down and stared at the floor.

"I..." He whispered quietly, stuttering in shock. "That girl..."

"There we are then, that's all of them." The boss said with an impatient frown. "So, have you made up your mind? Are you going to kill them or are you going to die?"

Jack tensed up angrily. If his theory was correct, then there wasn't a chance in hell. He'd done many bad things, some of which he was actually quite proud of, but the very thought of participating in this plan, especially in the light of this new information, caused him physical pain. He would rather die than follow-through...

"But, bear in mind, if you do not do this..." The boss continued. "We will just kill you and get a willing agent to execute the family."

Jack's eyes widened in shock, every cell in his body shaking with fear, before looking up at the boss and taking a deep breath.

"I'll do it."

* * *

Gru and Lucy sat at the kitchen table, the former massaging his temple as he listlessly sipped at a cup of tea. Lucy sat there and watched her husband. She was genuinely worried for his sanity.

"It's going to be okay, honey." Lucy reassured softly, putting a hand on his leg. "You really need to calm down."

"Calm down!?" Gru exclaimed, causing the redhead to flinch. "Yoo don't usually get keednapped and come back calm, Lucy!"

Sighing, Lucy put her head down. Gru had been stressed out all day, and due to his constant paranoia, had made Agnes cry fearfully on seven different occasions. He was constantly moving to different rooms and checking out of the windows to ensure that no trespassers was sneaking up on the house. He was really tiring himself out, and it took until 10pm for Lucy to finally persuade him into sitting down and taking a break.

"Maybe I should have security cameras eenstalled." Gru pondered, downing a large gulp of tea.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Lucy replied, smiling. "Maybe then you won't tire yourself out so much."

"Hmm..." Gru mumbled, putting his head down. "I'm...uh...I'm sorry for being so paranoid today."

Lucy smirked as she lightly placed her hand on Gru's shoulder.

"Don't be." She cooed. "You were looking out for your family. You should've seen how paranoid _I_ was when you went missing."

Gru smiled warmly while Lucy pecked him on the cheek, just as Dru emerged into the kitchen with a big grin painted on his face.

"Deed yoo have fun putteeng de gurls to bed?" Gru asked.

"So much fun!" Dru yelped, sitting beside Lucy at the kitchen table. "Dey're so cute when dey're sleeping."

"Yeah...eet's a pity dey have to wake up." Gru said jokingly, making the other two chuckle. Gru was happy to laugh. It had been an incredibly stressful day, and chances are, tomorrow would be no different.

"Do yoo really theenk dat guy ees gonna come back?" Dru questioned, his face twisting slightly with nerve.

"I do not know." Gru replied. "He said he couldn't kill me eef I have a family, but he works for de IVB, so yoo can't take deir word for eet."

"I still find it confusing." Lucy spoke, shaking her head. "Maybe, I dunno, he's being forced to work for the IVB. I mean, if it was his choice, he would be a relentless killer."

"Well, we'll probably never find ou-" Gru started, right as his nose caught onto a familiar smell. He lifted his head and spun his gaze around the room, inviting befuddled glares from both his wife and brother.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked, furrowing her brow.

"We need to get out of de house." Gru alerted quickly.

"What!?" Dru yelled, twisting his expression.

"I theenk I smell knockout gas." Gru informed, shifting his gaze towards Dru. "Quickly! Go wake up de gur-"

Suddenly, against his will, his vision blurred and everything went black.

* * *

Jack peeked his head out of the bush that he was hiding in to find two small yellow figures strolling around outside the fence. They were carrying two strange looking guns, the like of which Jack had never seen before.

He reached to his gadget belt, which was equipped with everything he needed for this mission, and grabbed a tranquillizer gun. Ensuring a straight and true aim, he shot the two creatures and sent them sprawling to the ground. The IVB's specialized knockout serum is extremely potent and effective, sporting the ability to knock anything unconscious within half a second.

Once they hit the ground, Jack crawled from his hiding position and inspected their inanimate bodies, furrowing his brow at the odd creatures at his feet. They were yellow and small, and though he hadn't seen every creature in the world, he knew that they were in no way wild animals. With a thorough rack of his brain, he deduced that they were genetically modified assistants created by Gru.

Jack had met many villains who had created their own species with the intent of using them as slaves. Chances are, that's what these things were. However, they were the most impressive looking ones he had ever seen, as if mother-nature itself developed them.

He peeked his head over the fence, scanning Gru's back yard closely, and spotted a weird dog-looking thing, who was patrolling around the garden. Jack figured that it must've been on watch. He reached for his tranquillizer gun again and shot the weird looking animal, sending it to the ground in a heap.

Jack knew that Gru was both skilled and experienced, and chances are, two yellow things and a dog weren't the only security measures.

Jack reached to his gadget belt again, placing the tranquillizer gun back into it's holster, before unleashing a grapple gun. He peeked around at the different windows of the house, most of which were lit up with lights, showing that someone definitely home. All except for one...

He aimed and shot the grapple towards the aforementioned window, sending him flying over the backyard at speed. Suddenly, much to Jack's surprise, three sentry guns stationed on the wall came to life and shot a trio of lasers at him.

Two hit him right in the chest, but the body armor he was wearing absorbed the damage perfectly, preserving him from harm. However, the other one missed and burnt straight through the grapples rope, making Jack descend towards the ground dangerously.

Thankfully for him, he got close enough to the house to grab onto a nearby window sill, right below the window he wanted. He peeked his head through the glass as he hung there, ensuring the room was empty. His massive upper-body strength allowed him to hang there for months, so he didn't fear of falling.

After a moment of squinting through the darkness, he spied three bombs in the room, all of which had large holes burrowed into the top of them. He tried to peek higher and see more, but he just wasn't tall enough. Carefully, he took a hand off the window sill and attempted to slide the window open. However, it was locked.

For the third time, he reached to his gadget belt and picked out a small screwdriver, one of which was embroidered with the IVB's logo. He shoved the aforementioned screwdriver into the window's keyhole, electing it to grow fiercely red and melt the lock within seconds. Once the metal had been melted down, he shoved the screwdriver back into it's holster and opened the window with his free hand.

With every ounce of his strength, he flung himself off the window sill and through the window, touching the ground without a single noise. Thankfully, the IVB had taught him a technique in which he could jump and land on floors without making any noise at all, one of the perks of being employed by such an ambitious organisation.

Turning his head, he quickly scanned his gaze over the room he had emerged in. It was difficult to do so because it was so dark, but with the help of the moon's light, he could just about see everything around him.

His eyes widened to the sight of the three girls from the family's profiles, laying asleep inside the hollowed bombs. He noticed that they had been carved out to house the mattress, and he couldn't help but get a little impressed by Gru's creativity. He searched each bomb bed, double-checking that they were indeed the same three girls, before stopping at the blonde with the pink hat.

She had the same hair. She looked very similar. Her name and age matched up.

"I...I don't believe it..." He whispered to himself quietly. He rubbed his eyes thoroughly, ensuring that the little girl asleep in front of him was actually there. But as he opened his eyes again, there she was, still in front of him. His mind buzzed in a total wave of shock.

However, upon escaping a small daze, he shook away his thoughts. There was still a mission to complete, one of which he wanted over and done with as soon as possible. Carefully, he plucked a strand of the girl's hair before turning around and quietly wandering out of the room. Before he continued down the brightly lit hallway, he spun back around and turned the lock on the bedroom door, twisting until it clicked.

He listened closely for any noises that indicated the location of the rest of Gru's family, but it was so creepily quiet, you could hear the dropping of a pin. He popped his head through every door he passed, analysing each room for any signs of redhead wives or blonde brothers.

That's when the sound of laughter downstairs caught his attention. Smirking menacingly, he trudged down the stairs and followed the small sounds of laughter, tip-toeing his way through the long hallway. As soon as he pin-pointed the laughter's location, he scurried forward and peeked his head through a nearby doorway, inspecting the room.

He saw Gru, Lucy and Dru sitting around a table, chattering to themselves. He reached down and grabbed a small bomb looking item from his belt and pressed the button atop it. He carefully rolled it into the room, watching as the gas emitted from the small holes, before leaping up and sprinting back down the hallway. He could here Gru smelling and warning, but he knew that it was way too late for all of them.

After around two minutes of waiting, Jack grabbed a mini gas-mask from his belt and hung it over his mouth and nose. He slowly entered the kitchen and peered down at the unconscious bodies of his new hostages. With a perilous smirk, he knelt down and stared right into Gru's closed eyes, talking to him like he could actually hear him.

"I'm sorry, Gru." Jack spoke, his voice clearly disingenuous. "But I have to do this..."

* * *

Eventually, Gru moaned as his eyes fluttered open, the AVL agent immediately recognizing the kitchen in front of him. Only this time, Dru and Lucy were nowhere to be seen, and Gru had been tied up against a wooden chair. That would make it twice in one day...

He frantically searched the room, looking for any signs of his family or intruders. It still really hurt to move his head after being punched in the face twice, but he ignored the pain and tried hard to find an indication to what was happening.

After a few seconds of confusing silence, Jack walked through the kitchen doors and looked slightly taken aback to see Gru awake.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, taking a step backward. "I wasn't expecting you to return to consciousness that quickly."

Gru didn't know what to say or ask. He wanted to threaten him. He wanted to find out where his family were. He wanted to know if they were okay. He wanted to know why he came back. But, as much as the questions were in burning need of asking, he was just too scared to open his mouth.

"I'm sorry about knocking you out again, Gru." Jack said, strolling towards him. "But, let's be honest, you would never have heard me out if I just knocked the front door."

Gru couldn't take it anymore. He just had to find out...

"What have yoo done to my family!?" He shouted, trying his best to scare the teenage kidnapper. Jack looked down, grinning devilishly, before replying.

"Hmm..." He spoke. "I thought you said you didn't have a family."

Gru wanted to get up and punch the living daylights out of this brat. But for one, he was strapped to a chair. And for another, this boy was clearly a lot stronger than him.

"I swear..." Gru threatened through gritted teeth. "Eef yoo've hurt dem, yoo _weel_ be sorry."

Jack ignored the threat, which didn't seem to frighten him in any way, and danced his way over to the booth table. He jumped through the air and threw himself down upon the red sofa, spinning his gaze around the room as he laid there.

"I gotta say, Gru," He started, nodding his head. "I really like the decor. Did you design everything yourself? If you did, then you did a good job."

Gru gave Jack a mixed look of complete anger and fear. Jack saw this and had to hold back the urge to cackle evilly.

"I'm only messin' with ya." He jeered, sitting up straight again. "I think it looks awful, not gonna lie."

"Please..." Gru pleaded. "Just...just tell me eef dey're okay."

Jack looked into his frightened eyes and felt a slight tinge of guilt. However, he needed to keep up his intimidating appearance. If what he thought about this guy was true, then he didn't deserve an ounce of his pity. He stood up and wandered over to the red stools in front of the bar, pointing at them inquisitively.

"Why are _these_ here?" Jack quizzed, switching his gaze between both the stools and his hostage. "What do you think this is, some sort of '80s diner or something?"

Gru didn't respond. He just closed his eyes and internally prayed for his family's safety. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Jack perked up again, frowning in frustration.

"Gru..." He began, his tone frighteningly aggressive. "I _really_ don't like it when people ignore me. Especially, when I ask them a question."

Gru kept his eyes closed. With every moment of silence, Jack felt his anger rise.

"So, I'll ask you again," Jack inquired calmly. Unexpectedly, he turned and slammed a nearby stool down to the ground, right before screaming in Gru's face. "WHY ARE THESE HERE!?"

"De minions just really like dem okay..." Gru whimpered. This kid was very good at intimidating.

"The minions!?" Jack asked inquisitively. "Oh! You mean those little yellow tic-tac things that were outside the fence holding guns."

Jack then walked towards Gru dangerously, getting right up in his face.

"Tell me..." He started, his voice quiet yet scary. "Why would those _'minions'_ be outside your fence holding guns? It wasn't to try and stop me from coming here, was it?"

"Maybe..." Gru responded. He felt like a young boy admitting to their wrong doing, even though the only young boy in the room was the one scaring him half to death.

"Hmm..." Jack spoke, nodding his head up and down. "Good. You wouldn't want me hurting your family now, would you?"

Gru closed his eyes in a bout of rage, before thrusting his head forward and attempting to headbutt Jack. But, before he could make contact, the IVB agent stepped back and swiftly avoided him.

"Hey, hey. Come on now." Jack said, cocking his head to the side. "No need to get violent."

"WHERE ARE MY FAMILY!?" Gru screamed. He had reached the end of his tether. Whether it be the dreaded answer or not, he just had to know. "WHAT HAVE YOO DONE TO DEM!?"

"Hey!" Jack yelled, putting his finger to his lips. "Shush now. You'll wake up your daughters."

Gru seethed with anger. The way Jack was evilly grinning implied that he was being sarcastic. Maybe...

...there were no daughters left to wake up.

"Now then..." Jack started, wandering back and forth in front of Gru. "Why would a villain like yourself have three daughters?"

"Dat ees none of your business!" Gru retorted.

"It wouldn't be for some _DISGUSTING_ evil plot, would it?" Jack continued, clenching his fists in anger.

"No..." Gru replied sheepishly. As much as he hated thinking it, that was the original reason he adopted them. Of course, that wasn't the reason he kept them. "Dey're just my family. Dat ees eet."

"Because I don't like seeing children in bad positions!" Jack bellowed, getting more and more aggressive with every sentence he spoke. "I _REALLY_ don't like it!"

"Dey're _not_ een a bad position!" Gru yelled defensively. "I'm a good father!"

Jack narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He was done with this conversation. He needed his answer now.

"How did you get the one with the pink hat?" He asked quietly.

"What!?" Gru quizzed, furrowing his brow in bewilderment. He hadn't been expecting that question.

"How did you get her!?" Jack yelled. "Did you adopt her?"

"What does dat have to do weeth yoo?" Gru asked angrily. "Dat, like de rest of dis conversation, ees none of your business."

"I think you'll find it's _all_ of my business." Jack retorted. His voice was quiet, but behind the soothing mask, laid an air of danger. "Is it true that her name is Edith?"

"Again, none of your busines-"

"Is it true that she is nine-years old?"

"How do yo-"

"Is it true that you adopted her from an all-girls orphanage?"

Gru just looked at Jack in stunned silence. How did he get all this information about her?

"How do yoo know all dis!?" Gru questioned loudly. The thought of someone collecting information on his daughters wasn't a particularly nice thought.

Jack looked away from Gru and held his head down, preparing his next sentence. After a few seconds of complete silence, he continued.

"Remember..." He began. "When you said that, if I had hurt _your_ family, I was gonna pay."

"Yes." Gru replied, speaking through gritted teeth.

"Well..." Jack started, looming over Gru threateningly. "If you have hurt _my_ family, I'm gonna make _you_ pay!"

Gru was beyond confused.

"What...what de hell are yoo on about?" He questioned. Ignoring the question, Jack gripped Gru's neck and lifted his head high. The IVB agent's cheeks grew a shade of red as he screamed in his face.

"You adopted my little sister for a villain plot!" He yelled. "You're a heartless piece of...I'M GONNA _KILL_ YOU!"

"Leetle sister...I...what are yoo..." Gru spluttered, as Jack's grasp on his neck got tighter and tighter. He finally let go and gave Gru a swift punch, one of which was enough to _REALLY_ hurt, but not enough to knock him unconscious.

"So, then..." Jack spoke. "You're gonna listen to me when I tell you all of this, otherwise, you're gettin' another one of those! Got that?"

Gru nodded his head in fearful understanding. He would've agreed using words, but it hurt to try and talk.

"Good." Jack proclaimed, as he stood up straight, grabbed a nearby stool, and sat down in front of his hostage. "It turns out that the IVB sent some spies to watch our little meeting in the warehouse. They heard everything you told me and reported back to my boss to tell him all about our conversation."

"What!?" Gru exclaimed weakly, the pain forcing him to wince.

"Yes! I know!" Jack retorted angrily. "The IVB know all about your family, and they sent me here to kill 'em all!"

Gru put his head down and cringed. He felt the sting of tears come to his eyes, but fought hard to keep them back.

The horrible truth was becoming an inevitability...

"They completed a background check on each member of your family, and then they gave the collected data to me to read. I know _everything_ about your wife. I know _everything_ about your twin brother. And I know _everything_ about your daughters!"

"And...so do de IVB?" Gru questioned, worry painted across his features.

"Unfortunately so." Jack responded. Gru dropped his head in panic. This was _not_ good! "But, that's not the part that angers me the most! They managed to find out how you got your daughters, and quite frankly, I didn't like what I read. You adopted them to serve as some pawns in an evil plan against some guy called Vector, is that correct?"

Gru hesitated for a few seconds. This kid seemed beyond angry. If he confessed, he looked sure to flip out. But, upon realizing that it was pointless to lie to a guy with IVB connections, he nodded his head.

" _THAT'S_ THE PART THAT ANGERS ME THE MOST!" Jack shouted, making Gru flinch. "The details they collected on your daughter Edith matches up exactly to my little sister, who I was separated from seven years ago!"

Gru gawked at Jack in shock. His heart rate immediately grew in speed. This couldn't be true. There wasn't a chance in hell that Edith was this sick kid's sister. Jack smirked at the sight of his shocked expression before continuing.

"My little sister was called Edith. She was two-years-old when we got separated, so that would make her nine-years-old now. She started growing blonde hair when she turned one. She always adored the colour pink. After we were separated, my social worker told me that they sent her to an all-girls orphanage. Does that sound familiar to you?"

"Dat could just be a coincidence!" Gru rebuffed.

"I considered that." Jack replied, his smirk growing wider. "So, while she was sleeping, I took a strand of her hair."

Jack stood up and took out a small transparent pouch from his extensive gadget belt, which he quickly unzipped. He carefully took out the strand of hair that had been placed inside, lifting into Gru's line of vision.

"I thought we could do a little DNA test." He proclaimed. "That will tell us whether or not this is just a wild coincidence."

"How can yoo do a DNA test?" Gru pointed out. "We're een a _keetchen_!"

"Gru! You were unconscious for _two hours_ before you woke back up." He explained. "I've had the chance to walk around your entire house, _and_ find your little underground lab! I saw that you had a DNA tester, and I brought it up here so we could use it."

Gru watched as Jack left the room and brought back a small metal machine, one of which sported two tubes, a small monitor, a large blue button and the words 'DNA Tester' written across the front.

"How deed yoo get dat up here weethout anyone noticeeng yoo?" Gru inquired.

"There was no-one down there when I went down." Jack replied, placing the DNA tester on the bar counter. "Was there supposed to be someone down there?"

"Yesss..." Gru replied, looking down and gritting his teeth. "And I'll be haveeng a few words weeth dat someone soon..."

Jack yanked one of the hairs off of his head and placed it in one tube, before placing Edith's hair in the other. Before leaving for the mission, he had made sure to wear gloves, so that there would be no DNA contamination.

"Are you ready then, Gru?" Jack asked, turning to look at the frightened former villain. "Because you better hope this doesn't say we're a match."

"Why's dat?" Gru questioned.

"Because I wouldn't like it if my lil' sis was adopted to be used as some pawn in a villain's evil scheme!" Jack yelled. "And I don't think you would like my reaction if I find out she has been!"

"Yes but...dat was only my _original_ eentention!" Gru replied. "Dey changed my heart after I adopted dem! I gave up villainy for dem! I gave up my dream for dem! I love dem weeth every fibre of my being..."

Gru trailed off at the end as he realized that he may never get to see them again. His eyes welled up with tears, and in an effort to preserve the small amount of intimidation he had left, he stopped them from streaming down his cheeks.

Jack watched him as he teared up slightly. His reaction seemed so genuine, as if every word he used was nothing but the truth, but villains are usually cunning in that regard. He wasn't gonna let himself get manipulated with play-acting.

"I'm sorry, Gru, but you know I can't take your word for it." He spoke, shrugging. "I mean, you're a villain. You're probably just tricking me."

"Ask de gurls yourself!" Gru screamed. "Where...where are dey right now!?"

Gru's heart pounded in his chest as he awaited his response. Were they safe, or were they...?

"I locked their bedroom door and let them sleep." Jack explained. Gru closed his eyes in pure relief. "But all this yelling and screaming has probably woken them up by now."

Gru felt disgusted that the girls must've been listening to every shout and yell that the two had done. But, at this moment in time, he didn't care. He was just thankful they were okay.

"Go get Edith and ask her!" Gru yelled. "I _don't_ treat dem badly! I love dem! I love _her_!"

Jack twisted his expression into one of complete anger, looking the most enraged Gru had ever seen someone. Gru felt a bolt of fear strike his heart as he spied his dangerous glare.

"If...if you are lying to me, I swear to god, you will die the most painful death imaginable!" Jack threatened, his teeth grinding together. "My sister needs love! In fact, she _deserves_ love! And if you're gonna lie to me about your love for her, then me and you have a very, _VERY_ , serious problem."

Before allowing him to respond, Jack slammed his palm upon on the DNA Tester's button, making the machine blink to life. With a loud whizz, it sucked Jack and Edith's hair into the workings, making it shake with a whirring noise.

The two watched on in anticipation, one frightened and one furious, as they awaited for the monitor to display the result. Suddenly, the whirring halted, and the monitor sprang to life.

Jack took a step back in shock, rubbing his eyes to ensure that he could see the monitor correctly. But as he opened them again...

...the monitor still read the same thing.

* * *

 _It's a scummy move...but I think we'll end Chapter Three there._

 _I know you probably hate me for making you wait for another chapter before telling you what the DNA test result is, but I'll try to get Chapter Four out tomorrow so you won't have to wait as long._

 _Please review! As I always say, whether it be criticism or praise, I would sincerely appreciate it!_

 _See you guys ASAP!_


	4. Unexpected Turns

_Another day. Another chapter._

 _I apologize for leaving the last one off with such a cliffhanger, but I just couldn't help it :P_

 _Before we start, I have some bad news. I messed up my wrist while playing football (soccer), and it's gonna be difficult for me to type. But, I'm gonna be a man and type through the pain, because I don't wanna stop posting._

 _Now enough talk. Let's go..._

* * *

 **Chapter Four -  
** _ **Unexpected Turns**_

I was escorted into my new prison cell by a guard and felt a little sick as I sat down on the bed inside. The guard didn't hang around for long, and slammed the cell door shut, walking away after scowling loudly.

Within a week, my entire life had taken an unexpected turn...

My parents are dead, my sister has been taken away from me, and I've been sentenced to six years inside a young-offenders prison, before serving another four years in a regular prison, for murder.

I never meant to kill the guy. I should've just punched him instead of smashing a lamp across his head. He must've had a thin skull or something, because later on that day, he died of brain damage in hospital. Either he had a thin skull, or I'm a _lot_ stronger than I think.

They told me a lot of information regarding my sentence, and what was going to happen over the next few years. It wasn't the ten years in prison that hurt me the most, but the fact that those ten years in prison meant that I was never gonna be placed inside an orphanage.

That meant two really sickening things. One, I will never having loving parents. And two, I will never see my sister again. They also told me that they'd put her in an all-girls orphanage, meaning that even if I was let out early, I would still never see her again.

As those thoughts entered my mind, my eyes welled up with a pool of tears. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted a decent life. I didn't need it to be perfect, just at least bearable. But, the life I was living right now was anything but bearable.

What is even the point of continuing? There is literally no reason for me to live any more. I have no-one to love. I have no-one who loves me. I don't even have a friend to talk to.

The tears came flooding out of my eyes like small rivers, as I shook in a complete emotional breakdown on the cell bed. I laid down against the rough mattress and closed my eyes, attempting to stop the flow of tears. Unfortunately, it didn't help.

I very rarely cried. In fact, I hadn't cried since what my deceased dad had tried to do to me four years ago, but this was all too much. I laid there crying, wetting both the pillow and my sleeves, for around twenty minutes before my brain seemingly gave up and sent me off to sleep.

Every night for the next two years would follow this same pattern...

* * *

Jack took a step back in shock, rubbing his eyes to ensure that he could see the monitor correctly. But as he opened them again...

...the monitor still read the same thing...

He had finally found his sister!

Jack had been waiting seven years for this day, and now that it was finally here, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief and happiness.

Gru stared in complete awe as the monitor displayed 'Match'. His mouth dropped in shock, quickly turning to face the IVB agent, who was covering his mouth in stunned joy.

Now that it had been confirmed that this was truly Edith's brother, Gru was starting to notice the large resemblance in facial features between the two. The way he smiled, the way he frowned, the way he pouted. They all looked very similar to the way Edith would.

"I...I can't believe it." Jack gawked, shaking his head. "Finally. I finally found her."

"Jack...I...I need yoo to know." Gru began carefully, remembering the threat that he had given him a minute prior. "I really do love my daughters. Your seester ees no exception."

As Gru spoke those words, Jack snapped out of his awe and straight back into reality. He turned around at speed, looking directly into Gru's eyes, and releasing a gruff frown.

"Were you not _listening_ to me earlier!" He blurted. "I cannot take your word for it! You were the most prolific villain on earth for quite a while! How do I know you're not just manipulating me!?"

"By goeeng upstairs and getteeng dem!" Gru stated, the ire causing his voice to quiver. "Eef yoo ask dem, dey weel tell yoo exactly how much I love dem! None of dis ees a lie!"

Jack looked down at the ground for a few seconds, contemplating deeply, before coming up with an idea.

"Well, I obviously can't go in there and get them..." Jack started. "It would freak the hell out of them. They would need someone they trust...like your wife maybe."

Gru closed his eyes and muttered "Thank you." under his breath. His wife was safe! He had prayed for her safety, and to whichever divine being granted his wish, he was eternally grateful.

"I'll just go get her." Jack spoke, an evil smile lingering on his expression, before leaving the room at pace.

Double-checking, Gru turned and scanned the DNA Tester's monitor again. It still read 'Match'. He couldn't believe that this guy was actually Edith's brother. They seemed nothing alike in terms of personality, since you never saw his nine-year-old daughter break into people's homes and kidnap the occupants. That sort of behaviour wasn't necessarily up Edith's alley.

After a minute or two, Jack re-emerged into the kitchen, carrying a struggling Lucy over his shoulder with one arm, and dragging a wooden chair with the other. The redhead's hands and legs had been tied up and her mouth was covered in tape. She desperately squirmed in his grasp, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break out of his tight vice grip.

He stopped and threw the chair down, placing Lucy atop of it. He grabbed the tape covering her mouth and ripped it off quickly, causing her head to abruptly jerk to the side.

She immediately looked over to Gru, who, to no surprise, looked extremely terrified. He had a third large and fresh bruise planted on his face, and by the look of discomfort in his eyes, it must've been causing him some pain. Lucy didn't have a clue what was going on, but she was absolutely petrified.

"Why are you doing this!?" She screamed.

"Hmm...not the way I usually start a conversation, but each to their own I guess." Jack replied, smirking with his sarcastic comment. He dangerously leaned in towards her face, looking dead into her fearful pupils. "Now, I need you to do something for me."

"What the hell makes you think that I'm doing anything for _you_!?" Lucy yelled, shooting him a fiercely angry gaze.

"Because if you don't..." Jack warned, balling his fists in rage. "I will gouge out your husband's eyes with a fork while you watch, and then proceed to kill you and the rest of your family. Understand?"

Lucy cringed in terror as he spoke. This guy was disturbingly sick. No sane person would make that kind of threat. Gru just had to question, how the hell was he related to Edith?

"Just do eet, Lucy." Gru whimpered. "Eet eesn't anytheeng bad."

Lucy sadly peered over at Gru, tears filling her eyes, as her husband shot her a pleading look. Reluctantly, she slowly nodded her head and spoke, glaring fearfully at Jack.

"What do you need me to do?" She asked, her voice quivering.

"Like your husband said, it's nothing bad." Jack explained, his tone a lot calmer than it was a few seconds ago. "I just need you to go upstairs, and bring your three daughters down here."

"NO!" Lucy screamed, thrusting forward in her seat. "PLEASE DON'T HURT THEM!"

Jack could only stare at her for a few seconds. She obviously had no clue, but in actuality, there wasn't a chance on earth they were getting hurt. Edith was his own sister. She meant everything to him. He had laid awake thousands of nights thinking about her, trying to conceive methods of getting her back. Now that he'd actually found her, not a slightest bit of harm would come to her, he would ensure that.

"I could never hurt my own little sister..." He confessed quietly, dropping his head. Those unexpected words hit Lucy like a bullet-train.

"What? What do you mean?" She asked quickly, shifting her gaze to Gru at speed. "What is he on about?"

"We deed a DNA test." He explained solemnly. "Eet...eet turns out dis guy ees Edith's biological brother, who she'd been separated from years ago."

Lucy's lips parted in shock. Did she hear that correctly? She hoped not. This disgusting waste of a human-being couldn't be Edith's brother. She remained completely silent for a few seconds, trying to think of a reply. But as she did so, Gru gestured his head towards the DNA tester, which was still blinking the word 'Match'. Lucy blinked in bewilderment, turning quickly to face Jack.

"...there must be a mistake." She whispered.

"There is _no_ mistake." Jack insisted firmly. "The IVB instructed me to come here and kill you and your daughters." Lucy's heart skipped a beat. "But...that's not what I'm going to do..."

But just as soon as it did, she sighed a loud sigh of relief.

"Then why have you tied us up?" She asked aggressively.

"Because I don't think you would've heard me out if I just walked up to the front door." Jack stated. "It wasn't my wish to tie you up, but I knew I had no choice."

"Lies!" Gru blurted. "Yoo definitely had a choice, and yoo _chose_ to tie us up against chairs! I bet yoo're just getteeng some sort of keeck out of watcheeng us suffer!"

"Suffer!?" Jack retorted aggressively. "If you wanna talk about suffering, then let's talk about my little sister! How much _suffering_ has she been through in your disgusting little mitts!? I mean, what kinda parent let's their children sleep in bombs!?"

"I'll have yoo know dat dey are deactivated..." Gru replied, speaking through gritted teeth. The very implication that he could abuse his little kittens made him feel sick to the bottom of his stomach. "And how dare yoo suggest dat I'd let my own daughter suffer!"

"She's NOT your daughter!" Jack screamed, getting in Gru's face again, who winced in surprise. "You can't just call the girl that you adopted for use in some twisted evil scheme your _daughter_! To pass as your daughter, she needs to love and care for you, and you need to do the same in return!"

"He does!" Lucy screamed defensively, electing Jack to turn to her. The huge blur of rage in his eyes frightened Lucy a little, but she wasn't one to get scared out of talking. "He loves them all with every inch of his heart! I've seen it first hand."

"Yes, well, I've been told that." Jack retorted, calming himself down a little, but still retaining a fiery frown. "But, I can't take the word of a villain, nor the word of a villain's wife. That is why I need you to go upstairs and get those three girls. I wanna hear them say that with my own ears."

Lucy looked down in thought for a few seconds. She was immensely fearful of bringing her three little girls down here. This guy had literally just threatened to gouge out her husband's eyes, and she didn't want them anywhere near him.

Noticing the reluctance in her eyes, Jack soothed his rage completely and approached her, talking as soft as he could.

"I swear, I will not harm any of you." He reassured. "Doing that is far from my intention. If you go up and get them, I promise I'll keep my distance from them. I just need to see their reaction to... _this_."

He gestured to Gru's beaten up figure, who was glaring back with a mix of confusion and panic, and then returned his gaze to Lucy. The redhead sighed and dropped her head, deciding to give in. She was a pretty good fighter, so if this guy went back on his word, he could have him regretting his decision within moments.

"Okay." She said. "Untie me and I'll go get them."

"Please, _please_ don't try anything." Jack pleaded, genuine concern in both his voice and eyes. "Like I said, I don't wanna hurt anyone. I just...I need to know if my sister is happy and in a safe place. That is the only reason why I'm here. And if you try something on me, I'm afraid that I'll ruin a life that she enjoys."

Lucy couldn't help but warmly smile. For the first time since discovering their relation, she could finally notice a piece of Edith in Jack. If his words were true, then he clearly cared for her. And just like Edith, maybe he had a quirky way of showing it.

"I won't." She promised lightly. "I mean, who would hurt their own daughter's brother?"

Jack grinned, appreciating her slightly touching response, before kneeling down and untying her legs and arms. She stood up straight and dusted herself off, turning to the IVB agent and giving him a nod.

"Thank you." Jack said, giving a slight sigh of relief. "Now, don't tell 'em that I'm here. Just go in there and tell 'em that Gru is in trouble, got that?"

"Alright." Lucy replied, nodding her head. Before leaving for the girls bedroom, Lucy turned and sent Gru a worried expression, one of which he returned. He had the premonition that something bad would happen, but he never could've envisioned all of this.

After she left, Jack walked over to Gru and put a hand on his shoulder, stealing his attention from his thoughts.

"If they react how they should react," He began. "Then I'll get up, walk out that front door, and never bother any of you again. Like I said, as long as _she's_ happy, then _I'm_ happy."

Dejection hit Gru hard. Behind the tough-kid exterior, Jack seemed to display signs of love and care, love and care that he rarely showed. Maybe if he didn't know they were related, he wouldn't make this connection, but he had to admit...

...that description sounded a lot like Edith.

Before Gru could say anything, Jack left through the kitchen doorway and entered the hallway, trying to find a hiding position. Just before he disappeared, he turned back around and told Gru one last detail, one of which he almost forgot about.

"Oh! And your brother's in the living room." He informed. "I needed two pieces of tape to shut the idiot up..."

* * *

Lucy strolled through the hallway and over to the door of the girl's bedroom. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for this saddening event, before unlocking it and flinging it open. Inside, the girls were all awake and sitting together on Margo's bed, looking frightened to all hell. They must've been awoken by all the shouting, and in fear, started comforting each other. That made it all the more harder for Lucy to play-act...

"Girls!" She yelped, putting on a fake state of complete panic. "Dad's in trouble! He's in the kitchen! Come quick!"

With a collective gasp, the girls got up and darted out of the room, almost tripping over their own feet in petrified surprise. Lucy watched them as they sprinted with an evident amount of worry in their stride, and felt an awful tinge of guilt strike her heart. _She_ made them feel like that. And for what? Just so some IVB agent can be persuaded into not killing them?

Shaking away her thoughts, she lifted her head and followed her daughters down the hallway, thundering down the stairs at speed. The four quickly emerged into the kitchen, where they found Gru tied up against the chair, bruised and bloodied. The girls had never seen him look so disgruntled.

"DAD!?" Margo screamed, feeling the urge to cover her sister's eyes. "WHAT...HOW DID...ARE YOU...!?"

"Gurls..." Their father timidly moaned. "Thank...thank god yoo're okay..."

The three girls ran up and hugged their father tight, trying not to aggravate a few visible injuries. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't hold back their petrified cries. Tears ran through their eye-lids and down their cheeks, soon being soaked into the fabric of Gru's clothes.

"How...how did this happen...?" Margo mumbled.

"I dunno..." Gru replied weakly, he himself on the verge of tears. "I theenk...some guy broke een here and tied me up."

"Did he...did he...did he hurt you?" Edith stuttered.

"A leetle..." Gru mumbled. "But...I'm gonna be okay."

Agnes climbed up and clung onto Gru's chest, sobbing into him.

"...I love you daddy..."

Painfully, Gru felt his heart break in two. God, how thankful he was that they were all safe. He couldn't hold it back any longer. He broke down and cried with his daughters, letting free all of the recent emotion he had been storing inside. As she watched the solemn sight, Lucy found herself sobbing as well, moving over to join in with the hug.

As the family cried and clung onto each other in a loving embrace, Jack found himself uncontrollably crying as well. He watched the whole scene unfold from the kitchen doorway, and as hard as he tried, the sight was just too sad and heart-warming to stop himself from tearing up. His little sister, the girl he loved and missed so much, had a loving family and a happy home.

Was there anything else he needed to be happy? Well, actually, yes there was...

He turned around and walked down the hallway, making his way towards the front door. He opened it and left the house, putting his head down and wiping his eyes with his sleeves. As he thought earlier, when he had kidnapped Gru and tied him up in the warehouse, he knew his life would be a lot different if he still had his family, and he certainly wouldn't have developed the desire to become a villain.

But, with that scene that he'd just watched, he now felt completely different. He felt like a huge portion of his mind had been rewired, and now, the previous evil desires no longer persisted. He now held only one desire in his life, and tomorrow, that desire would be fulfilled.

Without warning, his life had taken another unexpected turn...

* * *

Edith was laying upon the sofa, watching TV in her pink onesie. It had been an incredibly boring day for the nine-year-old, and since she was barred from going outside, she didn't even bother to change into her everyday clothes. She understood why she wasn't allowed outside, what with the kidnappings and IVB stuff, but that didn't mean it didn't suck.

Sighing in boredom, she gave up with the television and walked over to a load of trains that were set on the floor. She hadn't played with toy trains in a long while, as she was starting to outgrow them and find other activities more interesting, but she still found some entertainment from them.

After around ten minutes of losing herself in pushing trains around, Gru came strolling into the living room, looking as fearful as he did weary.

"Uh...Edith." He spoke. "Could I...could I have a leetle talk weeth yoo?"

"Ugh...what have I done now?" Edith asked, rolling her eyes.

"No, no." Gru responded quickly, sitting down beside her on the floor. "Yoo haven't done anytheeng...I just...I just need to talk to yoo."

"What is it, then?" Edith asked, looking up to him. Upon seeing his dark grey bruises again, Edith's face dropped and she talked sorrowfully. "Are you still hurting?"

"Uh...yeah." Gru replied sheepishly. "I'll probably be hurteeng for de next few days."

After he spoke, Edith clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes, looking into the distance with a clear sense of irritation in her expression.

"I wish I could've seen that guy who broke in here last night." She spoke, thinking aloud. "I would've taught him a lesson!"

Gru couldn't help but analyse the ire in her eyes. Yes, much to his dismay, it looked exactly the same as the ire in Jack's eyes. As much as he wished otherwise, it was very clear that these two were siblings, and it was sincerely scaring him.

Where did they move from here? Does he let the two see each other? Does he try to keep him away from her? Does he keep his mouth shut and just hope that Jack doesn't return? He honestly didn't know. He just really wished this dilemma wasn't happening.

"I...uh...I know yoo would've, sweetie." Gru replied, shifting his gaze around awkwardly. "Yoo're daddy's leetle ninja." Edith's previous frown quickly faded to a bright and adorable grin, as she pulled tightly on Gru's already brittle heartstrings. He was forced to ignore it, since it was the only way he could continue. "But...um...I need to ask yoo a question."

"Go for it." She replied, kicking her bare foot out to send another train speeding across the room, a playfully malicious smirk on her face as she did so.

"Uh...eet ees quite a personal question," Gru stressed. "So...yoo do not have to answer eet eef yoo feel unhappy."

"I probably will." She replied, shrugging her shoulders, looking back to her father with the same smirk.

"Uh...okay..." Gru began, taking a deep breath. "How much do yoo remember of your childhood?"

Edith glared at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Like...how much do yoo remember of de times _before_ yoo were put een de orphanage?"

The moment the word 'orphanage' hit the air, Edith's smirk disappeared and her head dropped. Noticing how uncomfortable and uneasy she looked, Gru stuttered and attempted to backtrack, wanting to avoid upsetting her.

"R-Remember, yoo do not have to answer de question..." He reiterated.

"No, it's okay. I'll answer it." Edith replied, not looking up at him. Silence filled the room, as she searched through a multitude of old, and slightly saddening, memories. Eventually, she came to her conclusion. "I don't remember anything. I...uh...can't remember my parents, I can't remember my old house. I can't remember a single thing..."

"I thought yoo wouldn't..." Gru replied, turning away.

"Why?" She asked, cocking her head in confusion. With a low and long sigh, Gru began the explanation. This wasn't going to be easy, nor would it be comfortable, but he couldn't let Edith go her whole life unbeknownst to the fact that she had a brother.

"Well...yoo see...last night-"

But, just as he began, he was interrupted by the loud ring of the doorbell, proceeded by multiple hard knocks on the door. He sighed with exasperation, rubbing a hand down his forehead, before getting up and leaving the room, Edith following on shortly behind.

Gru opened the door and was taken aback to see Jack standing there. Jack noticed the noticed the shock in Gru's expression, and though it amused him a little, he rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna punch you again..." He reassured, grinning. Gru frowned and narrowed his eyes at the teenager, resisting the urge to fearfully shut the door in his face.

"I thought yoo said yoo weren't gonna bother us again?" He stated anxiously, giving him a defensive look.

"I'm not!" Jack argued, holding his hands out. "But, I never said I would never see you again, did I?"

Jack chuckled with his last sentence, making the AVL agent a little more nervy, before pushing himself past Gru and into the house. However, upon noticing the small pink figure behind him, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh!" He exclaimed.

As much as looking into her eyes made him feel beyond happy, he had to admit, it didn't feel right. The last time Edith had seen him, she was only two-years-old, and in that time, she'd changed a lot. Obviously, she could actually walk and talk now, and that very fact confused Jack a little, even if he knew it shouldn't.

As he continued to marvel at her in stunned silence, Edith narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, glaring through Jack fiercely.

"What are _you_ looking at?" She questioned. Jack chuckled. This girl was _definitely_ his sister.

"Some little shrimp in a pink onesie, what are _you_ looking at?" Jack retorted, smirking jokingly.

"Some weird looking guy with strange muscles." Edith replied, finding herself unconsciously returning the joking smirk. As Jack cocked his head warmly, now realizing just how much he missed the sight of her little smile, Gru stepped forward and stood between them, as if he was trying to shield her from him.

"What do yoo want, Jack?" He quizzed. He knew the answer, but still, he felt like he needed to ask.

"I need to talk to you." Jack explained, giving him a serious expression. "We have a few small problems that we need to iron out. And by small, I mean _extremely_ huge!"

"What do yoo mean?" Gru asked, twisting his expression in confusion.

"Ugh...jeez, will you _stop_ with the third degree already!" Jack yelled, startling both Gru and Edith. "If you follow me, I'll tell you everything you need to know."

Jack walked past the two, who were giving him strange bewildered looks, and strolled into the living room. He sat down upon the sofa, as Gru and his little sister shortly followed behind.

"The decor gets worse as you walk further into the house..." Jack muttered, spinning his gaze around the room. As he did so, his eyes stopped and glued themselves upon the toy trains on the floor, a memory resurfacing almost instantly. He quickly turned to Edith and questioned her, finding himself unconsciously smiling. "Were you playing with those?"

"Uhh...yeahhh." Edith replied cautiously, giving him a quizzical look.

"Hmm..." Jack murmured. "Still do after seven years, huh?"

Edith peered up at her father in confusion, who simply stood there awkwardly, before turning back to the weird looking boy. She had no clue who he was, but considering the things he was saying and the way he was acting, he must've been some sort of idiot.

"I'm guessing you haven't told her yet, have you?" Jack asked, looking directly at Gru and grasping his attention.

"Well, I was about to," He replied. "But den someone rang de doorbell."

"Woah...that was pretty cool timing then." Jack replied, looking down and smirking. Gru rolled his eyes and turned away. He was talking just like Edith would, and with every new similarity he uncovered, another pulse of fright went down his spine.

"Told me what!?" Edith chirped suddenly. The two looked down at her nervously, both unsure of what to say, before returning their gazes to each other.

"I don't think she's gonna believe _me_." Jack said, shaking his head. Gru rolled his eyes again and sighed, kneeling down to get to Edith's level.

"Uh...Edith," He started, gesturing his arm out to the muscly teenager. "I'd like yoo to meet Jack."

Gru immediately fell silent again. How did he go about this? He had never really planned this conversation, he'd just hoped he could traverse it as he went along. Now that it was actually happening, he was already completely stumped. With another sigh, he put an arm on Edith's shoulder and spoke softly, watching as the tomboy narrowed her eyes at him in irritated confusion.

"I do not know how to say dis...but...um...he ees...uh...he ees very eemportant to yoo."

Jack huffed and rolled his eyes, holding the bridge of his nose. What a stupid method of explaning. Gru turned and frowned at him, while Edith twisted her mouth in confusion.

"Uh...no, he's not." She replied, giving Jack a quick glance and then turning back to her dad. "I've never even met him before."

"Well...uh...de theeng ees..." Gru replied, shifting his gaze away from her. "Yoo _have_ met heem before."

Reaching the end of her tether, Edith shook her head and brushed Gru's hand away, getting defensive.

"No I haven't!" She exclaimed. "I think I would've remembered meeting a guy like _that_!"

"Yeah, but, not if you were too young." Jack argued, catching the nine-year-old's attention. Edith quickly turned and inspected the boy from top to bottom. She couldn't remember seeing him before, but as she watched him, there was something a little peculiar about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Edith..." Gru began. "When yoo were at de orphanage, deed dey ever tell yoo anytheeng about your family? Your _biological_ family?"

Edith looked down in contemplation.

"No..." She replied. "I only know that my mom and dad are...uh...y'know..."

Edith turned away and rubbed her arm awkwardly. She was becoming more and more uncomfortable as this strange conversation continued, and with the mention of her deceased parents, was feeling the urge to snap angrily.

"So, they never even mentioned me!" Jack blurted, startling the two a little. He clenched his fists and growled, looking off in the distance. "Those social workers must've had some sort of vendetta on me or something."

"Wh...why are you asking me all this?" Edith questioned quietly, feeling both frightened and angry.

"Um...let's just say dat..." Gru started, shrinking down in himself under Edith's intrusive gaze. "...your mom and dad had more dan one keed."

Edith was still beyond confused. She stood there in silence for a few seconds, analyzing the words her father just used. If her mom and dad had more than one child...

...then that must mean she has a sibli-

Edith's mind clicked into place and she darted her expression towards Jack. He was looking down at her with concern, as if he was incredibly worried about something. She couldn't help but notice the same kind of fear in his eyes that she was feeling right now.

"Wait...are you saying that..." She whimpered, turning to face Gru. "...I have a brother or sister?"

Gru hesitated for a second, giving his answer one last thought, before nodding his head reluctantly. Edith's eyes widened as she looked down to the ground, taken aback a little in shock. However, as much as this news was surprising, it was also very awesome. Her whole life, she'd lived without the company of biological relations. If she actually had a biological sibling, then that would make her extremely elated.

"And here I am." Jack stated suddenly, looking away. Edith turned and watched his dejected features. Suddenly, she could see the image of herself in his face. In fact, he was almost a spitting image of her. "But...I doubt you believe me."

"How do you know he's my brother?" Edith asked, turning to Gru, her voice quivering as if she were crying.

"Um...yoo know Uncle Nefario's DNA tester dat I showed yoo a leetle while back?" Gru asked. Edith nodded. "Eet...um...eet confirmed dat dis boy has de same DNA as yoo, and dat yoo are related."

Edith blinked and started to spin her head around in a total state of shock. This was all getting a little crazy. And by a little crazy, she meant absolutely insane. She had a _brother_? A brother who she was actually related to!? Without knowing it, that was something she'd always truly wanted. Just someone, anyone, who was actually related to her.

"I've been trying to find you for seven years." Jack explained sadly, snapping Edith out of her thoughts. "We were split up when...um...mom and dad died. And...I made it my life's dream to try and track you down. You were the...only person...I, uh...ever... _loved_."

Like a sudden burst of lightning, Edith ran over and jumped into him with a hug, catching him completely off-guard. Jack held his arms out wide and stood there with a look of stunned shock, completely unsure of what to do. It had been a _VERY_ long time since he'd last got hugged, and when it came to traversing them, he was a complete novice. But, after a moment, Jack found himself closing his eyes and tightly wrapping his arms around her, remembering truly who this little girl was.

Tears bundled up in his eyes. Even if he wanted to try, he couldn't hold them back. He couldn't remember the last time he'd held his little sister in a hug, and because of that fact, he couldn't feel more elated to have her in his arms. After a long silence, Jack swallowed hard and spoke, his heart-rate accelerating.

"I...I love you." He murmured, his voice quivering. As much as she wanted to, Edith couldn't respond. This was a person she'd just met. She couldn't tell him she loved him, since she didn't even know him properly yet. Jack understood that completely, and when she kept herself quiet, wasn't offended in the slightest.

At this point, Edith's eyes welled up as well. A brother! She had a brother! She had someone who was genetically related to her! How could she not be happy with this!? She wanted to know everything about him. She wanted to know everything he'd done. She wanted to know everything he'd seen. Hopefully, he'd be everything she wanted in a biological sibling, just someone who'd be a lot like her. Someone she could connect with, not just through genetics.

After a whole two minutes of hugging and lightly sobbing, Jack released his little sister and put a hand on her shoulder, talking as soft as his flustered voice could allow him.

"Now..." He started. "You probably have quite a lot of questions."

"Yep." Edith replied, sniffing heavily. "More than 'quite a lot'."

"I will answer every single one!" Jack stated, rubbing a tear from her cheek. "But, first, I have a question for _you_."

"What?" Edith mumbled, looking intrigued.

"Is Gru a good dad?" Jack asked, lowering his head to indicate the seriousness of the question. With a profuse nod of the head, she replied.

"He's...the best dad _ever_!" She stated, watching as Jack's mouth curled into one of the warmest and most relieved smiles she'd ever seen. "Why?"

"Just needed to check that you were happy." He said, looking up at Gru. "Th...thank you."

Gru smiled, nodding his head awkwardly, before looking down at his feet. It felt beyond weird to watch his daughter hug some IVB agent, but she looked so comfortable with him, as if memories she couldn't even recall were flooding back.

"Now, I will answer all your questions..." Jack started. "Right after I've finished having a private chat with your dad."

Edith nodded her head and walked out of the room, making her way to her bedroom. She really needed to lie down. Her mind was in complete shock, and as much as she was incredibly happy, she needed some alone time to process the fact that she had a biological family member, who was still alive.

Once she'd left, Jack put his head in his hands and sunk into the crocodile sofa. He couldn't believe what just happened. For the first time in seven years, he hugged his little sister. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so unbelievably happy.

"She's...she's as perfect as I remember she was..." He mumbled, looking up at the ceiling in pure awe.

Gru was touched by his words and smiled at him. It was like he wasn't even looking at the same IVB agent who punched him three times, and then threatened to gouge out his eyes with a fork.

He wandered across the room and sat down beside him, giving him an odd look.

"What deed yoo mean by she was de only person yoo ever loved?" He asked. "What about your parents?"

"I hated my parents." Jack announced, sitting back up. "They considered my birth a complete accident, so they treated me like dirt."

"Oh." Gru replied solemnly, putting his head down. "Deed dey treat Edith okay?"

"If they didn't, it would've been _ME_ that killed them, not the car crash." Jack stated angrily, reminding Gru that he'd still taken pleasure in killing people before. "Thankfully, they always wanted a girl, so they loved Edith to the bottom of their hearts."

"I'm not tryeeng to upset yoo..." Gru replied anxiously, afraid that Jack would punch him again if he said the wrong thing. "But _how_ bad deed dey treat yoo? Deed dey heet yoo?"

"Pfft...they did _a lot_ more than just hit me." Jack explained, putting his head down with a fiercely angry expression. "But...I just...they...I _DON'T_ wanna talk about it!"

The unexpected outburst startled Gru somewhat, as Jack turned away and frowned to himself with his arms firmly crossed. He hated the thought of his parents faces, let alone the things they did to him, and the events of that horrible night eleven years ago.

"Oh...okay, I...get dat." Gru spoke carefully. Jack seemed to hold the unique ability to change emotions within an instant. One minute, he spoke soft and calm, but then the next, he shouted aggressively and threateningly. Noticing a clear sore spot, he back-peddled and changed the conversation, trying to calm the tense atmosphere. "So, what deed yoo want to talk to me about?"

"What do you think!?" Jack blurted, looking back up. "The IVB still want me to kill your whole family and force you into joining their stupid little plan!"

"Oh!" Gru exclaimed, his eyes widening. "I forgot about dat..."

"And, obviously, I'm not gonna do that." Jack said, looking around the room in thought. "So what _am_ I gonna do?"

"Well, why don't yoo just leave de IVB?" Gru asked.

"That's not possible." Jack replied, looking at him with worried eyes. "Once you become intertwined with that company, you're stuck there, on penalty of execution. I mean, the boss even threatened to torture and kill me if I didn't go through with this... _stupid_ mission!"

"Well..." Gru whispered quietly, turning away. "Dat ees a problem."

"But you know what!" Jack exclaimed, standing up. "I'm not gonna let him. I'm done with that guy. He's a disgusting person. I mean, if you thought I was bad, then you should see how that guy acts. He makes me look like a saint."

"I don't theenk your bad." Gru said, shaking his head.

"What...?" Jack asked with shock, looking over at him with a confused expression. Did he hear that right, or were his ears malfunctioning?

"I wouldn't consider a guy who threatens to kill a possible child-abuser as someone bad."

Jack looked at him with his mouth open in bewilderment. He had always been told that he was a bad person, so to hear otherwise was certainly strange. He shook his head and snapped back into reality, speaking frantically.

"Well...um...thank you." He spoke with uncertainty. "But, as I was saying, I'm not gonna let my boss kill me. This is the last straw! How many of those little minion tic-tac things do you have?"

"Hundreds." Gru replied.

"Good." Jack said, smirking menacingly. "Give them the best weapons you've got and meet me tonight at that abandoned warehouse. It's time to set this straight!"

"Hmm..." Gru hummed, putting his head down with a smile. "I'm guesseeng yoo have a plan."

"I'm not a man of plans, Gru..." Jack replied. "But, if you count taking over the IVB and ridding them from existence a plan, then I guess I do."

"Oh, dis ees gonna be fun." Gru replied, punching his palm with his fist. "Dey aren't gonna know what hit 'em!"

"So, as I said, meet me at that warehouse tonight." Jack instructed, slowly making his way out of the room. "Bring your wife along as well. From what I read on those profiles, she works for the AVL, so having her aboard would make this a lot easier."

"Yoo got eet." Gru replied, strutting over to the rhino chair to descend into the lab. Just before the former IVB agent left the room, Gru caught his attention as the elevator ascended from the floor. "Jack...um...yoo're welcome to stay for deener...eef yoo have nowhere else to go. I theenk Edith would really like dat."

Jack smiled and put his head down. Those words touched him a lot more than Gru probably realized. It had been a long while since anyone actually wanted him anywhere, so an invitation to dinner felt like a knighthood in Jack's mind.

"Thank you, Gru." He said, nodding his head at the former villain, who returned it as the tube engulfed him. As Jack turned and left the room, a multitude of awesome thoughts spun around his mind. He had his sister back, he had a reason to live, and the IVB would soon be destroyed. For once, things were looking up in his life.

If only he'd noticed the two spies looking in from the living room window...

* * *

Two important looking men, one in a black tuxedo and another in a grey tuxedo, sat in the reception of the IVB headquarters, remaining deadly still. They each possessed a briefcase on top of their laps, as they sat and waited for the looming instruction.

Soon, the empty silence was filled in by the ringing of a telephone, grabbing both of the men's attentions as they spun and inspected the reception desk in synchronization. The receptionist talked on the phone for a few seconds, again seeming uninterested, before putting it down and looking over to the two suited agents.

"You may enter." She informed begrudgingly, her voice completely monotone. The men nodded their heads and walked through the large wooden door-frame, making their way to the boss's desk.

"Sir." They greeted in unison. The IVB boss slowly spun around in his chair to make eye contact with the two men, giving them a welcoming smile.

"Gentlemen." He replied kindly. "I trust you have good news for me."

"Unfortunately not, sir." The one in black replied, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "It's quite the opposite, I'm afraid."

"Ugh...y'know, that _really_ doesn't surprise me!" The boss boomed. "Thank god I have you two spies, since I knew Jack wouldn't followthrough with it! That boy is _asking_ for a torture session!"

"Well, it's not just that he's not going through with it..." The one in grey spoke. "But it also turns out that one of Gru's daughters was his long lost sister, and now, he's plotting against us."

"And I trusted that little..." The boss replied, clenching his fists.

"Him, Gru and his wife Lucy are going to attack the headquarters tonight." The one in black informed. "I believe their goal is to eradicate the entire organisation."

The boss chuckled.

"Are those guys serious!? They must be completely deluded to think they can take this monolith of a company down by themselves." He blurted, standing up and looking around in thought. "Hmm...I really didn't want it to come to this, but...I need you guys to call _Agent F_."

"Agent F!?" The two gasped in unison.

"You mean... _Fierce?_ " The one in grey asked.

"Of course I mean Fierce!" The boss yelped. "Who else would I be talking about!? He's the best villain in the world! The only man who has never failed in killing his target."

"What should we tell him?" The one in black asked.

"Did you say that one of Gru's daughters is Jack's long lost sister?" The boss questioned, looking down at the table in contemplation.

"Uh...yes, sir!" The one in grey proclaimed.

"Good." The boss replied, smiling evilly. "Tell Fierce...

"...to break into Gru's house tonight and _kill_ her."

* * *

 _Dun, dun, dun!_

 _So, a lot has happened in this chapter, and the story is starting to get crazy! But, I'm having SO much fun writing it, and I hope you feel the same reading it!_

 _As always, please review! Reading new reviews means a lot and always pushes me into writing more!_

 _Will be back ASAP with the next installment._


	5. That Question

_And...we're back!_

 _I want to start the chapter off by saying a HUGE thank you! I've been receiving so many positive reviews and it makes writing these stories a LOT more fun! Everyone on this site is just so nice :)_

 _But, for this next chapter, I do have to reiterate the warning I gave at the beginning. The dark themes will come into play from here on in, so again, please take that on board. Specifically, the violence in this and the next chapter will be substantially increased, such as a lot of blood and gore being used._

 _Hope you guys enjoy, and let's go..._

* * *

 **Chapter Five -  
 _That Question_  
**

"You gonna try touching me again...?" I questioned through gritted teeth, lifting the teenager further up against the wall.

"No! No! I'm sorry!" He yelled, tears filling up his eyes. I smiled evilly, proud of another confrontational victory, before throwing him down to the ground.

"Take a hike!" I yelled. Quickly, he wiped away his tears, got up and ran away, not daring to look back. I dusted myself down and started towards my cell, ignoring the bewildered looks I was receiving from other inmates. Whenever a new prisoner arrives, they immediately try beating up others to prove their dominance. Every single one who tried it on me ended up regretting it.

Two years had passed since I'd arrived here, and I still hated every single second. The guards were beyond cruel, the food lacked both taste and nutrition, and all the other prisoners were, for lack of a better word, frustrating. I spent most of every day lifting weights in the prison yard, meaning my biceps were now almost twice the size they were when I got here.

Free time came to an end, and the guards started their way through the dim hallways, forcing us into our cells. I got inside, laid down promptly and closed my eyes. It was getting late, and I'd spent a lot of the day exercising, so I was knackered. A few minutes after drifting off, a very loud alarm rung right around the prison, practically making the very structure shake.

I got up and peeked my head through the cell bars, attempting to see what was going on. As I inspected every nook and cranny of the adjacent hallway, both the alarm and the lights went out, as the power in the prison cut off.

A little while after, a huge explosion sounded from not very far away, making me jump out of my skin.

The sound of complete silence filled the whole prison. I just stood there for a minute, trying to see through the blinding darkness, before a small ' _dink_ ' sound grabbed my attention from down the hall. It was like a very small pin dropping. At this point, I was not only confused, but creeped out of my mind.

And then suddenly, without any warning, a blinding punch to my stomach knocked me down to the ground. In return, I swung my fists and attempted to retaliate, but I couldn't see a single thing around me. As I laid helpless on the ground, my unidentified attacker sharply kicked me in the head, instantly knocking me unconscious...

* * *

"...and then the moon shot up into space and got back in position!" Edith said, using her hands to symbolize the moon shooting up and stopping.

"Wow." Jack gawked, putting his head down in shock. That story was not only long, but both crazy and almost unbelievable. "I wish I could've seen it. And he did _all_ of that for you and your sisters?"

"Yep." Edith replied, laying back across her bed and smirking. "He's a pretty cool guy."

"He sounds it." Jack replied, smiling and nodding. "So...uh...a quick question. How did you meet your sisters? If... _that's_ what you call them..."

"Well, I can't remember the day I met them." Edith explained, sitting up and putting her head down in thought. "But, I know we became sisters after sharing a room in Miss Hattie's."

"Ah." Jack replied, nodding his head in understanding, yet still remaining a little confused as to why she referred to them as 'sisters'. That part made no sense to the teenager. "They sound cool. Where are they right now?"

"Margo went over to a friends house, and Lucy took Agnes to her friend's birthday party." Edith stated, jumping from her spot on her bomb bed. Absentmindedly, she kicked a rubber ball across the room, one of which had been left on the floor precariously.

"Why didn't you go with her?" Jack asked, cocking his head in confusion.

"Cuz her friend's like five." Edith said, pulling a pout. "It would be _super_ boring."

"Yeah, good point." Jack replied, nodding his head in agreement.

"So, anyway, I've told you all about my life!" Edith said. In excitement, she laid back down on her bed and rested her head in her hands, kicking her feet in the air as she listened closely. "Now it's your turn to tell yours. Like, how do you know my dad?"

Jack shifted his gaze away awkwardly. There was no way he could tell her about how he met Gru. Telling her that he kidnapped and beat up her own dad was far from a good idea. He also couldn't tell her that he used to work for the IVB, since the things he did there were far from suitable for the ears of an innocent nine-year-old. He had to think of a convincing lie.

"Uh...I met him when I worked with the AVL." Jack stated, trying to put on his most natural face. He'd lied to many people in his previous evil job, so it wasn't too arduous of a task. "But...I left to become a lone ranger kind of agent."

"Woahhhh!" Edith cooed, her mouth falling agape. "So, you're like, your own boss?"

 _'I wish.'_ Jack thought to himself.

"Um...yeah!" He chirped, grinning happily. "I go around doing my own thing, and then come home and chill out for the rest of the day. That's...basically my life in a nutshell."

Unfortunately, that was far from the truth. He could probably describe his whole life in a nutshell with one single word, and that word would most likely be _god-awful_. Everyday would follow the same pattern of kidnapping villains, killing them if they were non-compliant, and then sitting all alone inside a small IVB dorm with no-one to love or care for.

Beforehand, besides from the constant loneliness, he hadn't had much of a problem with it. But now that he'd found his sister and her adopted family, that job and life sounded disgusting. He couldn't wait to rid it entirely...

"Cool." Edith spoke in pure amazement. That's exactly the kind of life she wanted to live. "So...how did you start working for the AVL? I thought you had to be much older to join."

Jack widened his eyes slightly. She had found a plot hole in his lie. How could he get around this? He could use the way he started working for the IVB, and replace the word 'IVB' with 'AVL. But, considering how he got started in that job, he had a feeling that wouldn't work...

"Um...I was...selected." Jack lied. "One of the agents spotted me beating this kid up on the street, and so they decided to hire me because of my awesome fighting skills!"

He was actually quite impressed with himself for coming up with such a good lie so quickly.

"No way! You're a good fighter!?" Edith exclaimed, standing up on the bed. Jack nodded proudly. He was _much_ more than just a good fighter. He was probably one of the best around, considering he hadn't lost a fight since he was six-years-old. "Cool! Are you, like, some sort of ninja?"

"Uh...I wouldn't go that far." Jack replied, smirking humorously. "I don't wear a mask or a costume or anything. But let's just say that those who start a fight with me, end up either regretting it or in the hospital with memory-loss."

Edith's mouth fell agape. She couldn't remember the last time somebody said something so cool, and it came from her own brother no less!

Suddenly feeling a desperate need to impress him, she leaned back and smirked, trying to act as cool and casual as possible.

"Yeah...I get into a few fights sometimes." She said. "I can't remember the last time I lost so, I think I'm pretty good at it."

"Pfft...of course you are!" Jack exclaimed, beaming. "I mean, you're related to _me_!"

Edith smiled brightly and appreciated that word. She was _related_ to someone. All of her life, or the part of her life that she could remember, she never knew anyone who she was actually related to. Now that she'd met Jack, who seemed so alike her in not just genetics, she was so much more than just happy.

However, with Jack's next question, she felt that happiness disappear almost immediately.

"So, what's with the hat?" He asked. "Do you always wear it?"

Ever since she was finally convinced that Jack was her brother, she knew this question would come up at some point. If her beanie was just some normal beanie, she wouldn't be so afraid of the conversation, but considering the slightly blurred backstory, she was a little fearful of answering.

After a few moments silence, she built up the courage to reply, deciding to get it over and done with.

"Yeah...I do." She spoke. Jack noticed the unease in her face, and is if they were actually connected with wires, the same expression duplicated over to his own face. "But...you must know why though, don't you?"

"I...I do?" Jack questioned, befuddled.

"Uh...yeah." Edith replied, the tone of her voice growing higher. "They told me that...when I was at the orphanage...this hat was a gift...from...our dad. They said...he left it for me...just before he-"

Her voice gave out at the end. There wasn't a single chance those words were leaving her mouth. She'd never discussed it with either Gru or Lucy, in fear of crying in front of them, but just an hour's conversation with Jack, and she was finding herself wanting to talk about it.

This hat was the final piece of her biological family before they passed away, and she refused to either take it off or discuss it's origin. But, now that Jack had suddenly appeared in her life, this hat was no longer the final piece. Even though she knew she could still never take it off, she now felt much more comfortable in talking about it, since the person who could answer all the questions she was dying to find out was sitting right beside her.

Unconsciously, she found herself crying. She wasn't hysterical or anything, it was more like a quiet sob, but the thoughts were still severely hurting her feelings. She hated to cry, especially in front of someone, but the mention of her parents was enough to bring alight some extremely solemn memories.

Jack felt two bolts of overpowering emotional pain hit him. One, was for the fact that their parents had left her something when they died, but decided against giving him anything. And the other, was for the sight of his sister crying.

He absolutely despised seeing her anything but happy.

"Hey, hey, shhh, don't cry." He spoke softly, putting his large arm around her small shoulders. "I'm sorry for mentioning it."

Edith felt incredibly comfortable around Jack. There was something about him, something about the way he looked at her, that gave her a feeling of warmth inside. She couldn't really explain it, since this was a boy she'd only known for an hour and a half, but at that moment, she didn't really care.

Taking a deep breath, she decided this was a better time than any to ask those questions that needed answering. She was still uncomfortable, but swallowing back the fear, she started the dreaded conversation.

"What were mom and dad like?" She mumbled.

Jack smiled warmly.

"They loved you to the bottom of their hearts." He stated soothingly, his voice like silk. "Mom used to sing you little songs before bedtime, and dad used to kiss you every morning and call you his favourite gem."

There was no controlling the tears streaming down Edith's face.

"How did they...uh...die?" She asked quietly, sniffing heavily with every few words. Jack sighed sadly before replying. He knew, out of everything else he'd explained, this was going to _really_ upset her.

"It was a...car crash." He stated solemnly. "They drove off to work, dropped you off at the nursery, and then...they never came back."

At this point, Edith was crying very hard. She knew that this conversation would be difficult to listen to, but she didn't realize just how much inner pain it was going to cause. It was like the words were beating her up from the inside. Now beginning to stutter, she continued with her questions.

"So...how did we get split up?" She asked.

And there it was. _That_ question. This was the one he dreaded being asked, purely because the reminder of losing his beloved little sister made him feel weak inside. It was easy to answer the question about their parents, since he didn't give a damn about them, but when it came to answering this one, he would need a few seconds of preparation.

Of course, he couldn't tell her the real reason why they got split up. That would only make her afraid of him. He had to come up with a good lie, that would preserve as much of the truth as possible.

"Well...um...my social worker...she really hated me," He began, the tears rolling down his face like cars on a highway. The day when he realized he would never see his sister's little face ever again seemed so vivid in his mind. "So...when mom and dad died...she separated us to different orphanages, promising me that she would definitely reunite us. But...obviously...she never bothered to."

"Why would she do that!?" Edith blurted, feeling a wave of aggression.

At this point, Jack decided to answer completely honestly, to a question she didn't even ask. Jack didn't hear the words 'why would she do that'. Instead, he heard 'why would _you_ do that', referring to the worst decision he ever made.

"I...I don't know, Edith..." He replied. "I guess...she was just a horrible person."

Feeling a little needy, Edith snuggled up tight into Jack's side, cuddling him like a teddy-bear. For a guy made of pure muscle, he was strangely comfortable to hug, something else was seeming to love about him. Closing her eyes, she took in his warmth.

Out of every possible brother she could've imagine, Jack was probably the best one. He was pretty much the same as her, he had all the answers she desperately needed, and he talked to her in a way that soothed all the bad feelings she'd kept inside for so long.

After ten minutes of loving silence, Edith fell fast asleep into Jack. It may have only been 4pm, but considering all of the commotion last night, she was feeling very tired.

Upon noticing her sleeping figure, Jack felt his heart melt. She looked insanely adorable, one of the main things he'd missed about her. When she was much younger, Jack would feel his heart melt like this almost every single time he looked at her. Now that the feeling was back, he couldn't be happier.

Out of every other person on earth, Jack knew there was no-one else out there that was more perfect than Edith.

He very slowly got up, fearing accidentally disturbing her sleep, and carefully laid her head against the pillow. He covered her with her pink blanket and gave her a small kiss on the forehead, slowly leaning over and whispering in her ear.

"I love you."

Edith giggled in her sleep...

* * *

Jack slowly strolled into the kitchen, a warm smile still lingering on his face, where he found Gru cooking spaghetti bolognese. He gave him a small welcoming smile, one of which the former villain returned, before sitting down.

"Have you got those minions ready?" He asked. Pouting, Gru stopped stirring the pot of bolognese and turned to him, giving him a clearly frustrated expression.

"No...and we have a leetle problem." He replied. "Dru took dem all out on some villain scheme, so chances are, dey won't be back for a few days."

"So, we can't do this tonight!?" Jack blurted, looking extremely disappointed.

"Afraid not." Gru replied, looking just as disappointed. Jack huffed and leaned back in his seat, frowning to himself. "But we weel definitely do eet at some point, so do not worry. I mean, dis just geeves yoo some more time to bond weeth Edith!"

"Yeah...I guess you're right." Jack marvelled, smiling to himself as he stared at the ceiling. Bonding with his own sister. As he questioned last night, was there anything else he needed to be happy? Now, there certainly wasn't. "That reminds me, I was gonna ask-"

"Yoo don't have to ask." Gru interrupted, reaching into the top cupboard to pull out a packet of spaghetti strands. "Of course yoo can stay here."

Jack shot him a thankful smile. It had been a very long time since someone had treated him so nice, and it came from a guy that he kidnapped and beat up the night before...

"Uh...I'm...sorry about last night." Jack spoke, dropping his head. He hated apologizing. It felt like he had lost, even if there wasn't a competition in the first place. "I feel really bad for punching you and stuff. I'm mean, you're an amazing guy, especially considering what you did for my sister."

"Yoo don't have to be sorry." Gru replied, as he dropped the spaghetti in the saucepan. "For all yoo knew, I was just some seeck villain using your leetle seester as a pawn een a disgusting evil scheme. I theenk eet would be wrong to not do sometheeng about dat. I gotta commend yoo for how yoo protect her."

"She's my lil' sis." Jack replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I'd do anything to make sure she was happy."

Gru grinned. It seemed that all traces of his previous evil personality had disappeared. Now, the Jack he met on his front doorstep yesterday was nowhere to be seen.

"Where ees she now?" He asked, keeping his eye on the bolognese, ensuring he didn't overcook.

"She fell asleep while we were cuddling." Jack replied, his smile widening. "I didn't have the heart to wake her up."

"I know what yoo mean." Gru said, chuckling. "Dey just look so cute."

"Yeah..." Jack cooed. "Thank you again for adopting her. I was so worried that her life would be ruined when our parents died, but she seems so happy with everything now. That's...all I ever really wanted."

"Well, I fell een love weeth her just as much as yoo have." Gru said, laughing to himself. "She and de other two just have dat kind of effect on people."

And that landed him at one of the only problems left, the other girls. Her _sisters_. Comforting and assuring Edith was fairly simple, since he was blood-related and shared a bond with her that he shared with no other person on the planet. Talking to those other girls was sure to be impossible, considering how his personality worked.

He wasn't a fan of meeting new people. Not that he got nervous or anything, he just truly hated humanity. For the most part, people had treated him horribly, with Gru, his wife, and Edith being the only exceptions so far. Something inside told him that, meeting these other girls was sure to go badly...

"Do you think your other daughters will believe that I'm Edith's brother?" Jack asked, wearing a doubtful expression.

"Well...I doubt eet, but..." Gru began, sighing slightly as he continued to stir the bolognese. "I also doubted dat Edith would believe eet, but I was wrong about dat."

"Hmm..." Jack replied, dropping his head again. He was yet to be convinced.

"So...Jack." Gru began. "Why deedn't yoo kill me yesterday?"

"What?" Jack questioned, a little surprised to be asked that question so unexpectedly. "Because...you're my sisters adoptive dad. I could never kill someone so close to her...unless of course you'd been mistreating her."

"No, no. I mean de _furst_ time yoo keednapped me." Gru replied. "Yoo deedn't know I was Edith's adoptive dad den, deed yoo?"

"Oh." Jack muttered. "No, I didn't."

"So, why deed yoo put de gun down when I mentioned I had a family." Gru asked, still stirring the pot, but now turning to watch Jack intently.

With an uneasy sight, Jack spoke.

"You gotta understand, Gru...things haven't been easy for me." He stated. "I've never had a loving family. My parents hated me, and my sister was taken away from me before she had the chance to truly remember me. The feeling I felt when we were separated...it's the worst feeling I've ever experienced. So to kill someone's father, knowing that I would put someone else through the awful pain of loss, would make me unable to live with myself."

Gru wasn't expecting such a personal response. He was expecting something like, ' _oh, I'm actually a really nice guy_ ', not ' _my life has been terrible_ '. He was a little afraid to pry, but his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"I...see." He spoke solemnly. "So, how deed yoo and Edith get separated den?"

"Because I made a _stupid_ mistake!" Jack shouted, making Gru jump with the unexpected volume of his voice. "A mistake that cost me my sister, my life and any chance of happiness..."

"What deed yoo do?" Gru asked quietly, a little uncomfortable with the current conversation.

"Well, this guy told me that Edith was too young to join the same orphanage me," Jack began, lifting his head to reveal the glimmer of tears in his eyes. "So, I flipped out and smashed a lamp across his head. He...he died of brain damage in the hospital a few hours later, and because of that, I was sentenced to ten years in prison for murder, hence my sister was taken away."

"Oh..." Gru replied.

"Look, I...I never meant to _kill_ him!" Jack exclaimed. "I...I just...I couldn't imagine a life without my sister! But then that stupid, _STUPID,_ decision I made, caused that exact thing to happen."

Jack's fists were clenched up hard and his eyes were turning into lakes of tears. Gru was lost for words as he stood there and gawked at him in shock. For all the people he knew who went through hardships, Jack was the one who got emotional the most. He cried and flipped out almost every time someone mentioned a memory, even indirectly, and it truly showed how hard things must've been.

But, upon replaying his short story in his mind, Gru came to a realization.

"Wait...ten years een prison?" Gru started. "Yoo mean a... _young-offenders_ prison?"

Jack nodded his head.

"So, _dat's_ why yoo work for de IVB!" Gru yelped, pointing the stirring spoon at him.

"Yep!" Jack yelped. "Wasn't my decision! It was all decided for me..."

Gru huffed and internally chastised himself. How could he not come to that conclusion earlier? In fact, the moment this teenager told him that he worked for the IVB, he should've realized. Maybe his fear was getting in the way, but whatever the reason, he was a little infuriated with himself for blaming Jack completely.

But, as a dead silence filled the room, Jack lifted his head and shifted his gaze out of the kitchen door. He narrowed his eyes and listened closely, deducing whether or not what he heard was actually true.

"What's de matter?" Gru asked, noticing his sudden trepidation.

"I...I thought I heard something..." Jack whispered, getting up out of his seat. "It sounded like it came from your backyard."

"What deed yoo hear?" Gru replied. In a small panic, he shuffled from the boiling pot and moved to stand beside the former IVB agent, who was still listening for noises.

"It sounded like a..." Jack started, his features dropping in worry. "...grapple hook."

Suddenly, an audible smash could be sounded from the girls bedroom upstairs.

Like a flash of lightning, Jack and Gru lifted their heads and darted out of the room...

* * *

Edith shuffled around underneath her cosy duvet. Slowly, her mind emerged from sleep, bringing her back into consciousness. She opened her eyes and scanned the room in confusion, feeling a little flustered. The last thing she could remember was leaning into Jack's side, and now suddenly, she was in her bed. She turned and inspected her digital clock, that read '4:58PM'.

"Woah." Edith whispered to herself, smirking a little. "Must've fell asleep..."

She leaped out of bed, now feeling a lot more energized, and wandered over to her slippers. As she bent down to pick them up, a weird zipping sound came from behind her, electing her attention. She very slowly turned around, and after pin-pointing the sound's location, creeped over to the window.

Suddenly, the glass smashed as a big red figure flung itself through it. Edith jumped out of her skin and fell to the ground in a heap, trying to far away from the window.

She peered up at the figure while she laid on the floor, attempting to work out who it belonged to and what was going on. She saw a tall man, who sported a red suit, red pants, black boots, and dark sunglasses, as he leaped through the air. He looked extremely weird.

As he landed on the bedroom floor, the red figure rolled and very quickly straightened himself up, not making a single sound as he did so. At speed, he looked over to Edith, who was glaring back fearfully, and smiled.

"Ah, there you are." He spoke softly. "Little Edith Gru. Such a cute little girl, aren't you."

Edith was totally freaked out. How could she not be when a man she'd never met before smashed through her bedroom window, smiled at her, and then greeted her with her full name. It took her a few seconds to respond, but eventually, she found the words in her head.

"How...how do you know my name?" She asked, her eyes full to the brim with fright.

"I know a lot of things about you, Edith." He said, slowly walking towards her dangerously, still smirking evilly as he did so. "Like, I believe you know my associate Jack, and I believe he's your brother."

As he continued to approach slowly, Edith quickly shuffled back. The more he spoke, the more she wanted to stand up and punch him. But, she may be young, but she wasn't stupid, and she knew there was no way she could take a fully-grown adult.

"I also know that your brother and your parents are out trying to destroy the entire IVB," He stated. "And, that you've been left _all alone_."

Edith's heart almost stopped dead out of total fright. Butterflies spun around inside her stomach, as she continued to scoot backward at speed, trying to get as far away from the man as possible. Unfortunately, while she was distracted by her shattered nerves, she realized that she'd backed up into a wall, and now, there was no escape...

"Anyway, it may have been short, but I really enjoyed out little conversation." The man spoke, his face bending into the most menacing smile she'd ever seen. "Goodbye."

Quickly, the man jumped and charged at Edith, as the frightened nine-year-old yelped and covered her face with her hands, hoping that they could somehow protect her. An audible slam hit her ears, and she tensed and closed her eyes, preparing herself for the unbelievable amount of pain she was about to experience. But, after another four or five loud slams, she realized that she was still perfectly fine.

She opened her eyes and took her hands away from her face, shocked to find the man in red unconscious on the floor. Jack was sitting on top of him, staring right into his inanimate eyes as he hyperventilated aggressively. The door had been taken completely off it's hinges, and Gru stared in from the open doorway, looking down at her in total worry.

Luckily for her, Jack reached the bedroom and smashed through the door, rugby tackled him in the air before he could reach her. In a blind few seconds of rage, he punched him across the head over and over again as he sat on top of him, knocking him unconscious and probably breaking the cartilage in his nose.

Even though she was still frightened beyond belief, she couldn't help but stand up and gawk at her newly-discovered brother, her mouth completely agape.

"Cool." She muttered.

Jack looked up and smiled, giving her a wink. Edith's previous scared expression quickly transitioned to a grateful grin, as she brightly beamed at the teenager.

"Edith!" Gru yelled suddenly, running over to her and kneeling down to her level. "Are yoo okay? Deed he hurt yoo?"

"Uh...nah, I'm fine," Edith mumbled, seeming strangely upbeat. "But I think he was about to."

Sighing in relief, Gru pulled her in for a huge hug, a little afraid of letting her go. This was way too close a call, and in fear of something happening again, he didn't want Edith ever leaving his side. Jack stood up and picked up the red man, flinging him over his shoulder with one arm.

Edith watched his huge muscles tense, and smiled impressively, again deciding that no other brother could be as cool as Jack.

"Gru." Jack spoke firmly, grabbing the AVL agent's attention so he could finally escape the hug. "Make sure she stays up here for a little while. I'm gonna go sort this guy out."

Just as the teenager was about to leave, Edith jumped from her father's side and latched onto Jack's leg. Jack smiled down at her as her grip got tighter.

"You're the _coolest_ brother ever!" She yelled. Jack chuckled, beaming proudly, before replying.

"Yeah...I know."

* * *

Margo walked down the path in the front garden with a small skip in her step. She'd had a good day over her friends house, and in the effort of making it back in time for dinner, had left a little earlier than usual. She happily bounded up to the front door and opened it.

"I'm backkk!" She sang down the hall, awaiting a response from her father. However, she was only met by silence, up until a man she'd never met before peeked his head around the living room door.

"Oh." He spoke, looking slightly panicked. "You...you must be _Margo_..."

"Uh...yeah." She replied, narrowing her eyes. "Who are you?"

"Uh...well, I would tell you, but I'm slightly busy at the moment..." He spoke, shifting his gaze around awkwardly. "I'm sure your dad will fill you in."

"Fill me in on what?" She asked, giving him a quizzical look.

"Ugh...about who I am." He moaned, rolling his eyes at her stupid question. "I think he's still in your bedroom."

He closed the living room door promptly, and from the noises coming from inside, must've placed something up against it to ensure no-one could come in.

For a few seconds, Margo simply stood there and stared at the door weirdly, before shrugging herself out of her thoughts and walking up the stairs. She entered her bedroom through the empty door frame and found Gru looking out of the smashed window and Edith jumping on her bed.

"What...what on earth happened!?" She asked in surprise, staring profusely at the disgruntled room. The door had been taken off it's hinges, the window had been smashed to pieces, and glass littered the wooden floor.

As she spoke, Gru quickly turned and inspected her, clearly a little on edge, before calming down when noticing his eldest daughter.

"Someone broke in!" Edith yelped. "They tried to _kill_ me!"

By the way in which she was smiling, she seemed to consider that morbid fact as an achievement.

"Someone tried to kill you!" Margo snapped, her face filling with worry. "Why do you look so happy then?"

"Because I didn't die." Edith replied nonchalantly, shrugging as she jumping down onto the floor.

"Hey, hey!" Gru yelled, turning away from the window. "What deed I just say!? Don't stand on de floor when dere ees glass everywhere!"

"Oh, right." Edith spoke, looking down at the floor and then climbing back onto her bed. "I forgot."

"Soooo... _who_ tried to kill you?" Margo asked, her mouth still agape with shock. The fact that a conversation as serious as this took a detour about glass was amazing her. Edith simply shrugged, seeming to find jumping on her bed more important than the man who broke inside her house.

"We're not sure." Gru said, his teeth binding together. "But whoever eet ees, I sure hope Jack ees teacheeng heem a lesson."

"Who's Jack?" Margo asked, switching her gaze between both Gru and Edith.

"My brother." Edith replied casually, as if the answer was obvious. "Or should I say my amazing brother."

"Brother!?" Margo exclaimed, blinking rapidly. "Wh...what are you on about!? You don't have a brother!"

"And how would _you_ know?" Edith replied, that response seeming to make her defensive. She stopped jumping and crossed her arms, tearing into her older sister with a fierce gaze.

"Because...because...you just..." She stuttered, looking down at the ground in thought.

"Eet's true, Margo." Gru said, walking away from the window to stand between the two. "We deed a DNA test. Eet turns out she has a biological older brother called Jack. He's downstairs right now, haveeng a leetle _chat_ weeth de man who broke een here."

Margo almost fainted. So much crazy information had been thrown at her at such a quick rate, and her brain was struggling to comprehend what was happening. Everyone seemed so nonchalant when they told her, and that's what was adding another questioning layer atop an already puzzling confusion.

"He saved my life!" Edith exclaimed, jumping off the bed again. "I've already heard Jack shout really loud once. I bet that guy is so scared..."

"Edith!" Gru yelled. "How many times!? De glass!"

"Well, how do I leave the room then!?" She yelled back, motioning towards the shards of glass in front of the empty door-frame. Instead of responding, Gru strutted over and collected her slippers, throwing them down in front of her feet.

"Dere!"

As she stuck out her tongue and slipped into them, Margo watched the two in complete awe. Edith had almost been killed by an intruder, her bedroom had been smashed up and left in disrepair, and Edith's biological brother had turned up on the front door, yet everyone seemed to be acting as if this was just a normal day.

"Uh, hello!" She yelled, grabbing both their attentions. "Can...can someone start explaining!?"

"What else is there to explain!?" Edith yelled back. "I have a brother, I was almost killed, some guy broke in! That's it!"

"That's _not_ it!" Margo retorted, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "How...like...why...did you _know_ you had a brother!?"

"Obviously not." Edith replied, her tone being one you would use when saying 'duh'. "I only found out today."

Margo continued to stare at her in complete bewilderment. Giving up on getting any sufficient answers from Edith, she turned to face her dad, who seemed to understand the question she was internally asking.

"Heem and Edith got separated after...um..." Gru interrupted himself quickly though. From experience, he knew just how much his middle-daughter hated talking about her parents. By mentioning their deaths, he would practically be asking for a yell. But, to his surprise, Edith moved over and stood beside her older sister, giving Gru an odd look.

"...after my parents died." She finished, remaining completely calmly. Gru widened her eyes at her. That was the first time she'd used those words.

"Um...yes, dat." He continued, seeming quite bewildered. "And dat ees why she deedn't know about heem. He turned up at de front door today after years of tryeeng to track her down. He saved Edith's life when that guy broke in."

Margo simply stood there with her mouth agape. The information she was hearing was extremely hard to believe. Not only that, but it actually scared her a little. I mean, if that guy downstairs was Edith's brother...

...would that make him _her_ brother?

The room fell into a stunned silence, everyone just looking around at each other, one of whom was lost for words. Eventually, Edith grabbed onto her stomach and looked up to Gru, breaking the silence.

"I'm hungry." She announced. "Where's the grub?"

Upon remembering the abandoned boiling bot, Gru's eyes widened and he darted out of the room, almost knocking Margo off her feet. She steadied herself at the last moment and followed on behind, motioning for her little sister to follow her.

After making it downstairs, Margo peeked her head down the hallway and spotted that the living room door was now wide open. While Edith frantically followed Gru into the kitchen, obviously in desperate need for food, Margo strolled off and made her way towards the living room door.

She peeked her head through and was shocked to find a large pool of blood inside. She turned her head and covered her mouth to stop herself from puking. She wasn't a big fan of blood.

As she stood in the hallway, gagging, two loud sounds startled her and grabbed her attention. It sounded like they came from the backyard. She trudged her way through the house towards the back door, and found it to be completely wide open. Nervously, she shuffled towards it and looked out.

She would never forget what she saw out there...

* * *

After pushing the iron maiden in front of the living room door so that neither Margo or Edith could see what was about to happen, Jack wandered over to the man in red, who was strapped up against a chair, and frowned at him.

"Hey!" Jack bellowed. "Wake up!"

He remained completely inanimate. Blood was trickling from his nose, and a large bruise covered his forehead. His head was down, and at the moment, he seemed completely lifeless.

Jack checked the man's pulse. Upon feeling it beat back at him, he scoffed angrily. He didn't have a clue how long it would be until he woke back up, so he turned around, grabbed the remote, switched on the TV, and slumped down on the sofa, getting himself comfortable.

But, just as he did so, a small moan sounded from behind him, obviously coming from the red intruder. He rolled his eyes in exasperation, switched off the TV, and looked over at the chair. The strange man was shaking his head in confusion, slowly emerging from unconsciousness, before lifting it and looking over at Jack.

"Hello there." Jack greeted cheerfully, his tone obviously disingenuous. "How are we feeling?"

"Wha...?" The man mumbled, blood trickling out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Hmm...not too good, I see." Jack replied, wandering over to stand in front of him.

"What were you doing in the house?" The man asked timidly. "I thought...I thought you were attacking the IVB headquarters."

"How do you kn-" Jack started. However, as quick as the question appeared in his mind, was as quick as it was answered. "Ohhhh...so the boss sent some more spies, huh?"

"Mm-hmm..." The man confirmed, giving out a painful sigh.

"And he sent _YOU_ on me this quickly?" Jack stated, pointing at the man. "Woah. The boss must really be scared."

"Pfft...he ain't scared..." The man responded. "You know he ain't scared of anything."

"Well, you say that, but he doesn't usually send _you_ unless it's a critical situation." Jack stated. Proudly, he turned away and smiled, admiring his new status. "I'm a _critical situation_ , huh?"

"He didn't send me to kill _you_..." The man corrected, squirming in his seat. He was trying to break the bands on his legs and arms, however, his attempts were having no affect.

"What?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "So...who did he send you to kill...?"

"Your little sister." The man replied aggressively. "That's why I was in her room, you idiot. He knew you were attacking the headquarters tonight, so he wanted me to come here and kill her while you were gone."

He felt a rush of complete dread. If Gru's minions weren't off doing other things right now, then his little sister would've been...

In a bout of anger, Jack balled his fists and shook with rage.

The boss was gonna pay for this...

After a few seconds of extremely angry silence, Jack sighed and calmed himself down, trying to talk as soft as his infuriated mind could allow him to.

"Very clever." He spoke, holding his head down. "And he sent _Fierce_ to kill her as well. He really must've thought this through. Uh...is it true that you have a 100% success rate in killing your target?"

"You _know_ I do." Fierce replied.

"Well..." Jack started, both his features and voice becoming extremely dark. "Not any more you don't."

Without any warning, Jack lunged forward and punched Fierce very hard. Four of his teeth went flying out of his mouth as he made contact, and blood came running down from his face and all over the floor.

"I THOUGHT WE WERE _FRIENDS_ , FIERCE!" Jack screamed, putting a finger in his face. "We must've worked on so many different missions before! How could you do this to me!?"

"We were never friends." Fierce whispered weakly, gasping with fear and pain. "I just admire your ability. Trust me, I ain't trying anything on you ever again."

Jack put his head down and smirked.

"Do you think I'm _stupid_ , Fierce?" He asked. "You and I both know you'll try something again if the boss tells you to. I mean, it's your job for god sake."

Fierce was struggling to concentrate on Jack's words, let alone remain conscious. The pain in his head was incredibly strong and the blood was dripping from his mouth at an alarming rate. He was incredibly close to fainting.

"Now, what to do with you..." Jack pondered out loud. "Usually, I commend people when they do something evil. But, like I always say, if you hurt my family, _I'm gonna make you pay_..."

Out of nowhere, Jack leaped forward and punched him again, knocking him unconscious immediately. He leaned down and untied the straps around his hands and legs, allowing him to fall to the ground in a bloody heap. Jack huffed and crossed his arms, shaking his head as he glared at Fierce's unmoving body.

"Let's just get this over with..." He muttered. He leaned down and lifted his body over his shoulder, making his way out of the room. With one swift push, he flung the maiden flung out of the way and trudged through the hallway towards the backyard.

After getting outside, he threw Fierce's unconscious body to the ground and gave him a sharp kick in his stomach.

"I was gonna give you a dignified death..." He began, as he dragged the body over to the far end of the garden. "...but you really don't deserve it."

He threw him up against the tree and reached into his back pocket for his handgun. He pointed it at his head, but upon realizing that shooting him in the head would be too quick and painless, he stood there and waited for Fierce to come back into consciousness.

As his eyes weakly fluttered open again, Jack didn't even bother giving him a fake greeting, and deciding upon shooting him in both his kneecaps.

"Ahhhh!" Fierce yelled in pain, keeling over on his side.

"I'm done with being walked all over..." Jack muttered through gritted teeth. "Your death marks the beginning of the new me. I'm my own boss from now on."

"Please..." Fierce pleaded, his vision beginning to blur.

"I'm done with villainy." Jack continued. "My lil' sis is all that matters now, and if any of you IVB scum try to hurt her again, I'll send them to hell, soon to be populated with _you_."

"You won't get away with killing me..." Fierce muttered quietly. "The IVB will _destroy_ you..."

Jack chuckled. He decided against gracing him with a response. His desire was to let him bleed out in the backyard, as that death would be slower and a lot more painful, but he couldn't bear to look into his putrid eyes for another second.

"Nice knowing ya Fierce." Jack jeered with an evil smirk, as he pointed the gun at his head again. "See you on the other side..."

Jack pulled the trigger and closed his eyes. Blood never bothered him, but seeing someone's brains might be a little too gorey, even for him...

He turned around towards the house and opened his eyes again. Upon noticing the figure at the back door, a pulse of fright struck his heart. It was Margo. She looked at him with an expression he'd never seen before. It was like a mix of shock, fear, confusion, and disgust.

"Oh." Jack spoke, his face scrunching awkwardly. "Uh...how much did you see?"

After a second, Margo kneeled down and vomited all over the grass, making Jack wince with disgust.

"I'll...take that as an answer then."

* * *

 _So, I think we'll leave this chapter here. Sorry for the disgusting ending, but it's necessary to the story._

 _Just want to thank everyone again for the support. It honestly means a lot!_

 _I'll get working on Chapter Six immediately! I'm putting my full concentration into this, and I ain't stopping 'til it's done!_

 _See you all soon._


	6. The Truth

_So I gave a little warning at the beginning of the last chapter about blood and gore._ _Well...I should mention that the beginning of this chapter will be INCREDIBLY violent. Maybe it gets a little too vivid, but it needs to be! The IVB are not nice people, to say the least._ _If you thought the last one was a bit too gorey for your tastes, I would definitely skip down to the first horizontal line._

 _As well as that, mentions of suicide are used in a few places in this installment, so if you find that sort of thing very disturbing to read, I would certainly give this one a pass._

 _Anyway, warnings aside, let's get going..._

* * *

 **Chapter Six -  
** _ **The Truth**_

Complete darkness. When I finally emerged from unconsciousness, that's what I was met with. The distant sounds of cheers and shouting could be heard. It sounded like a large crowd. I attempted to move, but as I tried, I realized that my hands and legs were tied up. I couldn't call for help, because my mouth had been covered with some sort of tape, ensuring I couldn't speak. I squirmed and shook, hoping that the ropes would give, but unfortunately, they'd been tied up well.

After a minute of squirming in the dark, a man opened a large door in front of me and filled the room with light. I sent the man the most vicious of frowns, but he ignored my threatening expression and picked me up over his shoulders. At speed, he undid the bands on my legs and arms, ripped the tape from my mouth, and threw me into some sort of arena. The sound in the room was deafening, coming from the large crowd of around two-hundred people watching on. As I spun to attack the unknown man, he darted backwards and closed the large door, leaving me stranded without hope of escape.

I turned and inspected the on-looking crowd, but as I did so, I recognized five other boys around my age standing inside the arena. On closer inspection, I recognized them as inmates from the young-offenders prison, all of whom I disliked. We shot each other odd looks, hoping one of us could provide the answer to what the hell was going on, before a large voice sounded across a nearby speaker.

"Fellow IVB agents!" It boomed. "Welcome to yet another recruitment fight! Today, these six boys will brawl and fight to the death, the winner being rewarded with a chance as an IVB recruit!"

At this point, I was beyond puzzled.

 _'What is an IVB?'_ I thought to myself. By the way in which the other boys' expressions changed, I figured they must've been thinking the exact same question.

"Give our little friends the weapon!" The voice boomed again. As if out of nowhere, a small metal dagger was dropped from above and landed directly in the middle of the arena, making a large clang sound. All of us looked around at each other, frowning with rage.

"3...2...1...!" The voice sounded. My heart-rate grew. Something felt strange inside, as if there was another unidentifiable feeling situated alongside the strong fear. Before that day, I had never felt the feeling before, but from that moment, I felt it almost every single second. "FIGHT!"

As if I was hit by an extreme bolt of lightning, my mind fidgeted and screamed at me to sprint forward. Why was I telling myself this? I needed to refuse to participate. I couldn't kill five other boys! As much as I was an angry person, that kind of behaviour just wasn't who I was.

But, unbeknownst to me at the time, I didn't have a choice...

Suddenly, as if I was experiencing an out-of-body experience, I darted forward at bolting pace and easily beat the other boys to the dagger. One of them ran towards me, attempting to punch me and steal the dagger from my grasp, but I easily caught his fist and twisted his body around to fling him to the ground.

"WOW!" The crowd sounded. Now, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins, forcing me to keep fighting...

Another boy came from behind and attempted to sneakily steal the weapon, but as I sensed him approaching, I quickly jerked and threw him over my shoulder. As he laid helpless on the ground, I leaned down and swung the dagger across his chest, creating a large and surely fatal wound.

The other boy got back to his feet and lunged at me, clearly wanting to rip me apart with his bear hands, but I was way too fast and swung the dagger across his neck. He fell to the floor in a heap, destined to never get up. The crowd roared again, and with that, another sense of victory flooded me. I had never felt so proud to end the life of another human-being.

That's when the two other boys punched me from behind simultaneously. I was knocked back a little, but with a quick twist of my body, I kept myself on my feet. With blurring speed, I punched the closest boy across the face as hard as I could, sending him flying across the arena. The other boy growled and approached me.

Resentment was all I could feel. I _wanted_ this boy dead. My mind screamed at me as the crowd continued to cheer, telling me that he doesn't deserve to keep breathing. Then suddenly, without warning, the last boy came from my right and tried to pull the dagger out of my hand. Unfortunately for him, I was way too strong, and I easily won the tug of war. More rage flooded my mind, as I leaped into the air and kicked the boy in the chest, sending him to the floor with a powerful thud.

As I turned and glared at my final three opponents, a glimpse of the boy who I cut across the chest hit my eye. He'd bled out. He was completely inanimate and his eyes looked void of life. I really didn't know why, since this wasn't the kind of person I was, but the sight of the boy's dead body made me grin evilly.

It was giving me pleasure. That obviously wasn't healthy...

As one of the boys thundered forward to punch me again, I reacted quick enough and stabbed him in the gut, sending him to the ground as the blood covered my face. I felt unstoppable. Invincible. Nobody could beat me.

For I am the strongest person on earth!

My final two competitors didn't stand a chance. With accurate and quick precision, I used the dagger to end their lives, ensuring that I stood victorious as the undefeated winner of the fight. I didn't know what this IVB thing was, but whatever it was, I wanted it.

As I sent the final boy to the afterlife, the crowd roared massively and the voice sounded again.

"AND WE HAVE A WINNER!" It exclaimed. "EVERYONE WELCOME THE NEWEST IVB RECRUIT!"

The room was filled with a chorus of applause. I loved every moment of their cheers. It made me happy. Something about the way they chanted made me feel proud and elated at the same time. Nothing could compare to this feeling. I never wanted to stop feeling it.

I threw the dagger to the floor and raised my fist into the air, celebrating along with the crowd. I didn't know what was happening, I didn't know who these people were, I didn't know what the IVB was, but I did know one thing...

...this was the start of my new life.

* * *

"That's so awesome!" Agnes cheered, as Gru dished up the slightly overcooked bolognese onto porcelain plates. The girl's loud and happy voice made Jack wince in discomfort. She'd been like that ever since she'd walked through the front door, and slowly but surely, it was giving the teenager a headache. "Does that make you _my_ brother!?"

"Ummm..." Jack spoke, twisting his expression confusingly. It was a fairly obvious answer. They weren't blood-related, so of course not. Where would she even get that question from? "I...I don't think s-"

"Ooooo!" Agnes interrupted, standing on her seat in pure excitement and startling Jack somewhat. "Do you like unicorns!? Unicorns are great! Have you ever seen a unicorn!? I wanna see a unicorn! I _HAVE_ TO SHOW YOU MY UNICORNS!"

"Ummm..." Jack replied, glancing at Edith as if he was asking for help. His little-sister only returned a smirk, as if she'd been expecting Agnes to get so energetic and loud, and was now being entertained by her brother's confusion.

"Yoo can show heem after deener." Gru spoke, placing a plate of spaghetti down in front of the energized little girl. Upon spotting the food, her entire attention seemed to consumed and pulled away from the teenager. "Now deeg een."

Agnes didn't need to be told twice. Jack couldn't help but gawk as she ate at a speed of which he'd never seen before. For such a small girl, she seemed to contain an extremely odd amount of energy.

"So, is it cool to have a brother?" Lucy asked, nudging Edith with her elbow as Gru placed down everyone else's dinners and sat down with them.

"Yeah!" Edith replied giddily, grabbing onto Jack's arm. "Especially one that saves your life!"

Jack returned the largest of warm smile's. He was unsure as to how he survived for so long without her in his life. She seemed to brighten up his entire world.

As he and everyone else got into eating, Margo sat back and pulled the most traumatized of expressions. How could she eat with that image engraved in her head? That man's lifeless expression was forever stamped upon her memory, never to be removed.

"Yoo okay, sweetie?" Gru asked suddenly, startling the bespectacled girl from her thoughts.

"Oh! Um...yeah." Margo replied, putting her head down to avoid eye-contact. "I'm just...not that hungry, that's all."

Gru chuckled.

"Don't worry Margo, eet's not _dat_ overcooked." He joked.

Margo decided against responding. Instead, she elected to re-enter her thoughts.

She was sitting at the table with a _murderer_. How could she feel comfortable with that statement spinning around her head? Not only that, but nobody seemed to care about the fact that a boy they'd only met today was currently sitting at the kitchen table, eating their food and chatting with their youngest daughter. Maybe it was because he saved Edith's life, but in Margo's mind, that meant absolutely nothing any more.

The fact that he'd killed a human, completely cancelled out the fact that he'd saved a human.

Jack peered up at her awkwardly. The decision to kill that guy was probably a little misguided, but as he panicked for his sister's safety, all other thoughts were erased. That man broke into their house and attempted to kill Edith. How could he let him get away with that? Maybe he should've been a little more careful in who was watching, but again, his sister's well-being was all that populated his thoughts.

"So, Agnes, how was de party?" Gru asked. Agnes took a second to stop herself from shovelling spaghetti into her mouth, before answering with an incredibly high-pitched tone.

"SO MUCH FUN!" She screamed loudly, making Jack wince again. "She had this huge princess bouncy castle and then we all pretended to be princesses and then we all played pin the tail on the princess!"

"Pin de tail on de princess...?" Gru questioned, grinning at his youngest daughter.

"Yep!" Agnes proclaimed, nodding happily. "We had to stick the tail on her crown."

Gru and Lucy chuckled, while Jack shot her an incredibly befuddled look. Agnes was like no other girl he'd ever met before. She was happy all of the time, seemed to have the most innocent mind he'd ever witnessed, and seemed to brighten up the expressions of everyone around her.

As he stared at her joyful face, which was messily covered in bolognese, Jack couldn't help but grin a little. Her constant glee seemed to be quite contagious. She seemed to sooth all bad feelings by just talking. Only one other person had done that to him before...

Realizing what thoughts were passing through his mind, Jack shook his head free and got back to eating. Maybe the recent lack of sleep was making him a little dazed...

"Did you have a nice day over your friends house, Margo?" Lucy asked. For a few seconds, Margo didn't respond, instead deciding to keep her head down. But as she realized she was receiving a multitude of strange glares, she lifted her head again and cleared her throat, trying to act casual.

"Yeah..." She muttered quietly. "I had fun."

"Doesn't sound like you had fun." Edith replied, narrowing her eyes at her.

Margo turned and gave her younger sister a slight snide glance, but as she did so, Jack's on-looking expression caught in the corner of her eye. Upon seeing his face, that disgusting memory returned, and she quickly yelped and jerked backward in the hope of getting away from him.

"What's de matter?" Gru asked, startled slightly by her unexpected yelp. Realizing she was cornered, she turned and rapidly tapped on her father's shoulder, hoping to escape the booth table.

"I need to go to the bathroom!" She stated quickly.

"Oh." Gru spoke, giving her an odd look. As soon as he stood up, Margo darted forward and sprinted out of the room, trying to get to the bathroom. By the way her stomach was doing flips, she deduced she was probably going to puke again.

"That was weird." Edith spoke.

"What was all that about?" Lucy questioned, turning to her husband.

"I do not have a clue." Gru replied as he sat and sighed a little. Awkwardly, Jack put his head down. He wasn't sure how to resolve this problem, but chances are, he would need to just tell Gru and Lucy, in the hopes that they could help him do so. "So, deed yoo find out who dat guy was, Jack?"

"Oh...uh...yeah..." Jack started. "Turns out that he worked for the...um...AVL."

Just before he mentioned the IVB in front of his little sister, who would probably start asking questions, he hesitated and changed the word. Unfortunately, by the time he remembered who the two people at the table worked for, it was way too late...

"De AVL?" Gru asked, giving him a quizzical look, turning to his spouse. "Why on earth would _dey_ break een here?"

"I dunno, but we can't let that go unpunished." Lucy said, balling her fists a little as she turned back to Jack. "Did he say what his name was? We might know him."

"Look, I'll...I'll tell you about it later." Jack replied quickly. As the two agents gave him puzzled looks, Jack subtly nodded his head in Edith and Agnes's direction, indicating that what he had to say wasn't exactly suitable for their ears. The two remained a little confused, but after a second, realized and sent him a slight nod.

"That guy said you left to destroy _the entire IVB_!" Edith stated. Jack sent her an expression mixed of shock and panic. "Aren't those the people who kidnapped you?"

She nodded in Gru's direction, and Jack quickly shot him a desperate look. Switching his gaze between the teenager and his middle-daughter, Gru didn't know how to respond. By the frantic look on Jack's face, he was clearly afraid of Gru's next sentence, so he had to be extremely careful with the words he used.

"Uh...yeah, dat's dem." He spoke, thinking as hard as he could. "Yoo see...um...after I told Jack about what de IVB deed to me, he suggested dat we should...attack dem and get revenge."

"Cool..." Edith marvelled, sending her brother a smile, who only returned a slightly perilous look. "That guy who kidnapped my dad is a real baddie! He needs to be put in his place!"

Jack dropped his head for a moment, but upon realizing that Edith was still looking at him, fakely smiled and nodded. Evil things had never made him feel this guilty before, but now that Edith had used those words, he'd never felt more regretful.

Thank god she didn't know the truth...

* * *

Since the door had been taken off it's hinges and the window had been smashed to pieces, the girls couldn't sleep in their bedroom that night. Instead, they were forced into sleeping inside sleeping bags on the floor of Gru and Lucy's bedroom, which was nowhere near as comfortable as their brilliant bomb beds.

"Eet'll only be for tonight." Gru reassured, as the three girls climbed into their individual sleeping bags with a frown. "I'll feex de door and weendow furst theeng tomorrow morneeng."

"You better." Edith sneered. "Cuz this _sucks_."

Gru and Lucy simply chuckled, only seeming to add to Edith's frustration, as the couple went around and gave their three daughters a goodnight kiss, hug and 'I love you'. Making their way out of the room, they turned off the lights and started down the hallway, heading for the living room to watch TV. Just as the three girls closed their eyes, Jack came bursting into the room, looking both frantic and slightly panicky.

"Wait, wait!" He exclaimed. "Don't fall asleep yet."

At speed, he ran over and gave Edith a small kiss on the forehead, coupled with a tight hug. He hadn't given his little sister a goodnight kiss in seven years, so there was no way he could miss the chance to give her one now.

"Night sis." He spoke, breaking the hug and emitting a playful smile. Returning it, she replied.

"Night bro." She said. "Thanks for saving my life today."

"Anytime." Jack spoke, giving her a wink. He promptly stood up and made his way for the bedroom door, giving her one last smile before leaving the room.

"He's so _awesome_!" Edith cheered.

"Yeah, I like him," Agnes agreed, nodding her head. "He's nice."

"You think _everyone_ is nice, Agnes..." Margo mumbled, rolling over and facing away from her two sisters.

"Yeah, but my brother is pretty nice." Edith replied. "And cool! And amazing! And funny!"

"You've only known him for one day!" Margo blurted unexpectedly, sitting up in her sleeping bag so she could angrily stare at her younger sister. Edith looked a little surprised by her sudden outburst, and in return, sent her an odd look. "We don't know much about him. I mean, what if he's dangerous!?"

"Dangerous?" Edith asked, sitting up to meet her stare. "But...he's my brother. He saved my life. He's not dangerous!"

"You don't know that!?" Margo yelled. "He might not hurt _you_ , but what if he hurts mom, or dad, or Agnes, or _me_!"

"Hey! Don't...don't say that!" Edith yelled. Becoming defensive, she stood up and glared right through her eldest sister, looking as irritated as she did offended. The sudden increase in anger startled Margo a little. "He would... _NEVER_ do that!"

"But what if he does!?" Margo exclaimed. As usual with her personality, losing arguments wasn't something she particularly liked doing. "We don't know anything about him! What if he isn't even your brother!? What if he's, like, some sort of _spy_ who's just tricking you so he can get to mom and dad!?"

A flash of hurt crossed Edith's eyes.

"That...that isn't...that's NOT true!" She shouted, looking like she was racking her mind silly for usable words. "I...I know...he just...that can't be...JUST _STOP_ TALKING!"

"Guys! Stop it!" Agnes blurted in fear, grabbing her two sister's attention. The both of them sent their fiery glares to her, and upon seeing her youngest sister's frightened expression, Margo quickly felt guilty. Instead of calming down and becoming empathetic, Edith growled and turned away from them, crossing her arms in the process.

Edith was known to get angry, that's something Margo had learnt about her over the past six years, but this was much more enraged than she usually got. Something about this conversation was seeming to hurt her, and Margo was a little unsure as to exactly what. She wasn't one to purposely hurt her little sister's feelings, so instead of yelling, the bespectacled girl sighed and spoke softly.

"I'm sorry, Edith." She said. Edith didn't turn around. "I don't wanna make you angry. I'm just...I'm just a little worried."

Edith still refused to offer her any attention, and kept her back firmly turned to her eldest sister. Instead of giving up on getting through to her, Margo continued and ignored the fact that she refused to turn around.

"I'm only saying this 'cuz..." She started, her voice trickling with unease. "Earlier, when...when you were waiting for dinner...I went outside and found Jack in the backyard. He was with this guy, I think it was the guy who broke in here, and...and he..."

Margo struggled to finish the sentence, partly because she didn't know whether or not Edith was actually listening, and partly because the memory made her feel queasy again. After a few seconds of silence, Agnes's small little voice perked up and broke it.

"He what?" She asked. Her voice was very high-pitched, showing how uncomfortable she found the conversation.

Sighing, Margo walked up to the bedroom window and looked out over the backyard. The man's blood and body had somehow been removed completely. She didn't know how Jack got rid of him, but in all honesty, she really didn't want to know.

Finally, she continued.

"He's a murderer." She stated. "He went outside, put the man against the tree, and then...and then he shot him."

Silence flooded the room again. Not a single sound could be heard. For a moment, Margo wondered whether or not anyone had actually heard her. But that's when Edith finally spoke...

"You're lying..." She muttered, still refusing to turn around. Her voice was barely a whisper, but by listening to her tone, you could tell she was far beyond just angry. Margo, who was a little surprised with her response, turned away from the window and glared at her.

" _Why_ would I lie about that!?" She yelled.

Like a bolt of lightning, Edith spun around and stared at Margo like she wanted to rip her head off. Aggressive tears were bundled up in her eyes, and for a moment, the twelve-year-old was slightly taken aback. It was a rare occurrence to see Edith cry...

"JUST SHUT UP!" She screamed. Breathing heavily, Edith opened her mouth and shouted again, saying something she would instantly regret. "You're just _jealous_ that I have people in my family _WHO AREN'T DEAD_!"

The moment those words left her mouth, Edith's anger dissipated immediately, being replaced with painful guilt. It was like someone else was in control of her mind for a moment. How could she say that when she knows exactly how it feels to lose loved ones?

Agnes gasped in shock at the extremely infuriated yell, while Margo didn't do anything. Margo _couldn't_ do anything. All she could do was simply stare at her pink-hatted sister for a moment, her feelings torn almost beyond repair.

Struggling to watch her sister's pained expression, Edith wiped her eyes and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

As soon as she left, Margo turned away and stared out of the window. She looked up into the dim night-sky and watched the flickering of the stars. They all seemed so lonely. Forgetting the existence of her adopted family for a few moments, Margo couldn't help but feel the same. Tears entered her eyes, and when she tried to blink them away, more surfaced.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Agnes slowly strolled over to stand behind her older sister.

"Margo...?" She mumbled timidly, clearly very afraid. "Are you okay?"

The question didn't register in Margo's mind. Instead, she continued to watch the sky. Her mind was looming over the edge of a dark abyss, one of which was full of horribly bleak thoughts. The minutes were passing by like seconds, and with every harsh memory and thought that passed Margo's mind, her tears grew larger in size.

In the long and painful silence, Agnes had waddled over and sat atop her parents bed, thinking. She hated arguments. She always wished that anger never existed. Maybe then, Miss Hattie would've been a lot kinder, and her sister's would've always got along. She hated it when people weren't being nice.

To someone else, it may seem innocent and small, but to Agnes, those thoughts were really important. She wished everyone could be happy all of the time, because when they weren't, it scared her beyond belief. If it was up to her, people would never be allowed to get angry or sad, because then, everything would be good.

Sniffling a little, Agnes watched Margo as she continued to look out of the window and felt the urge to make her feel happy again.

"I love you, Margo." She spoke quietly, her voice a husk.

Suddenly, Margo snapped back into reality. All the horrible words Edith had used seemed void all of a sudden. Maybe it was because, truly, none of her words mattered. Yes, she may miss her real parents, and yes, losing them caused her a great deal of pain. But now, she had this huge happy family, where she was cared for and looked after.

Turning at speed, she looked over at her youngest sister, who looked extremely dejected, and felt a change of mindset. The big sister part of Margo came out, and without another thought or word, she moved over and sat beside her on the bed.

"I love you too." She replied, putting an arm around her. With that, Agnes seemed to light up again, and softly, she leaned into Margo's side, searching for comfort.

"Edith looked really mad." Agnes spoke quietly. "Why did she get so angry?"

"I'm...I'm not sure, Agnes." Margo replied soothingly. "I don't think she liked it when I said Jack wasn't her brother. I think she really wants him to be her brother, that's all. I mean, wouldn't it be cool if you had a brother?"

Agnes nodded.

"But, now I do..." She spoke. Margo peered down at her in confusion.

"What?" She questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if Jack is Edith's brother, and I'm Edith's sister..." Agnes started. "Doesn't that mean that Jack is _my_ brother?"

Margo's first thought was no, but as she considered harder, she realized that she might be right. As much as she hoped for otherwise, it seemed that Jack really was Edith's brother, and it seemed that Edith had already accepted him as part of their family. And since she was a part of Edith's family, then that would make Jack a part of _her_ family. She really, _really_ didn't want that. I mean...

...who would want a murderer in their family?

Before Margo had the chance to respond, a large shout sounded from downstairs, practically startling the two girls out of their own skin.

"What was that!?" Agnes asked, jumping back as the fright overtook her.

"I...don't know..." Margo mumbled, feeling immediately worried. She wasn't sure, but by the tone of voice, the shout sounded like it came from Jack...

Not a moment later, two very loud slams sounded, practically shaking the structure of the house. The two yelped again, Agnes grabbing her older sister's hand in panic, before the youngest sister could ask the question in the air.

"What were those bangs?" She whimpered.

Another shout, this time from someone else, and then another bang came from downstairs. Agnes was now clinging onto Margo's arm in total fear, and the eldest sister was preparing herself for the worst.

After around ten seconds of eerily creepy silence, Edith practically swung the bedroom door off the hinges and charged her way into the room, startling the two sisters again. The tomboy had definitely been crying, and by the look of fright in her expression, had just witnessed something disturbing...

What had Jack done...?

* * *

"So, you're sure you don't mind sleeping on the couch?" Lucy questioned, as Jack entered the living room and sat alongside the couple as they watched TV.

"Nah, of course not." Jack replied, shaking his head. "I've slept on _tonnes_ of couches before. I'm used to it."

"Where do yoo actually live?" Gru inquired.

"One of the floors of the IVB headquarters is filled with dorms." Jack explained. "One of them is mine. Since it's underground, there's plenty of space to fit every agent and recruit."

"I see..." Gru spoke, giving him a look of uncertainty.

"Obviously, now that I'm through with the IVB, it's not mine any more." Jack said.

"Ah, dat reminds me! I wanted to ask yoo," Gru began. "Dat guy told Edith all about our plan. How deed he find out about dat?"

"The IVB sent some more spies." Jack explained, that statement making him frown. "So, after finding out about the plan, they sent one of the most effective villains on their books to come here and...kill Edith."

A low growl emitted from Gru's voice box, coupled with an extremely venomous frown.

"De IVB are gonna pay for dis." He stated.

"Wait..." Lucy interrupted. "I thought you said that guy worked for the AVL."

"That was a lie." Jack responded. "If Edith finds out that I worked for the IVB, she's sure to start asking questions, and I don't need her knowing the things I did there. It's...not exactly suitable for a little girl's ears."

As he explained, Gru's face dropped lower and lower, as if something was beginning to sink in. After a few seconds of silence, the former villain finally turned to him and sent him a look of disgust, one that initially confused Jack.

"So...yoo really killed dem keeds?" He asked solemnly.

Jack immediately became apprehensive. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to partake in. That horrible memory of what he did was enough torture on his part, he didn't need some AVL agent judging him with his expression.

"Look, I just...that was a long...I didn't _want_ to!" He blurted, ire filling his voice. "It was like...I was out of control! I would never _think_ of doing that now! And anyway, if I didn't kill them, then I would've been dead within seconds. I needed to protect myself!"

Gru still seemed both uncomfortable and unconvinced, and that was only adding to Jack's fury.

"Wait, wait." Lucy spoke, grabbing their attention. "What are you on about?"

"De IVB break eento young-offender prisons and keednap a load of prisoners." Gru stated. "Dey know dat most of de keeds eenside dem have killed people before, so dey theenk some of dem might have potential een becomeeng an IVB agent."

"They usually kidnap six or seven prisoners and put them in an arena to fight to the death." Jack began. "The one who survives is enlisted as an IVB recruit, and is then trained into becoming an agent."

"And that...happened to _you_?" Lucy asked, pointing at Jack.

"Unfortunately." He replied.

"So, how did you end up in a young-offenders prison!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"It's a long story." Jack said, sighing. "Just know that it was an accident."

Lucy suspiciously narrowed her eyes at Jack, who turned away with a clearly guilt-filled pout.

"So, who was dat guy dat broke een here den?" Gru asked, returning the conversation to the original subject.

"He was one of the villains that the IVB kidnapped and recruited, named Fierce." Jack replied. "Before his latest assignment, he had a 100% success rate in eliminating his assigned target. The IVB must be frightened about us, so to ensure that we would no longer be a problem, they sent Fierce out to complete their... _mission_."

"But, why would they go after...Edith?" Lucy asked, seeming to have trouble finishing the question. "I mean...she's so young!"

"That's how disgusting the IVB's boss is." Jack spoke, shaking with anger. "He has no care for humanity, and when it comes to getting revenge, he has no qualms with killing children. But, we won't have to worry about that Fierce guy any more."

"Why ees dat?" Gru asked.

"Well...that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Jack started. "Do you have some sort of memory eraser in your lab?"

"Uh...yeah, I theenk we do." Gru replied, pulling a strange expression. "Why?"

"Because when I took Fierce out in the back yard and shot him, your daughter Margo happened to walk out and see me." Jack stated. Gru returned a look of complete shock. "She seemed a little traumatized, so-"

"Wait, you actually killed him!?" A small voice exclaimed from behind. Jack shot his head around to see Edith standing at the doorway of the living room, looking both frightened and angry. His heart skipped a beat, and out of fear, could do nothing else but stare at her in panic.

"Yoo killed heem!?" Gru exclaimed, startling the teenager.

"Yes! Obviously!" Jack yelled. Realizing just how much deep water he was in, he spun and addressed Edith directly, attempting to ignore the look of morbid surprise on her face. "That man tried to _kill_ you! There was no way I could let him get away with that!"

"But...only _bad guys_ kill people!" Edith retorted. By the look of distress on her face, it looked like she'd had a problem with bad guys before. This only added to Jack's trepidation. I mean, if she was frightened of him, then surely, she wouldn't want him in her life...

His stomach flipped in peril.

"Yes, but...look...I..." Jack stuttered. He desperately attempted to conceive a good excuse, but as he tried, Lucy spoke for him.

"Well, yeah..." Lucy spoke. "He _is_ a bad guy, Edith."

"Lucy!" Jack yelled, standing up out of his seat. The redhead turned and watched his fiercely aggressive expression, and upon realizing her mistake, shrunk down in herself.

"Uh...was I not supposed to mention that?" She muttered.

"Wait...you _ARE_ a bad guy!?" Edith exclaimed. She slowly trudged backward, looking as scared as she did shocked.

"No, no, no!" Jack argued. "I'm...I'm a good guy!"

"Pfft...good guy!" Gru replied aggressively, standing up in his seat. "Good guys do not keednap and beat up people een dere own homes! Dat ees de work of a scumbag!"

Jack began breathing heavily, as his cheeks turned ripe with anger. Before he could retort with an insult, Edith spoke up again. At this point, she was very close to running as far she could from him.

"That was YOU!" She shouted, pointing at him. Jack now looked incredibly uneasy. He could do nothing but stutter and step backward.

"Dat ees not all he's done!" Gru shouted, looming over Jack, but indirectly talking to Edith. The former IVB agent looked both fearful and enraged. "He brutally killed five keeds een an arena. He killed his social worker! He's probably killed your parents! And chances are, eef yoo weren't taken away from heem, _he would've_ _killed YOU as well_!"

Reaching the end of his tether, Jack lunged forward and grabbed Gru by the collar, pulling him in until he was staring dead into his eyes.

"Don't you _EVER_ suggest that!" He screamed, violently shaking Gru in his grasp. "Edith is the BEST thing that ever happened to me, SO HOW _DARE_ YOU ever suggest I would do that! I _love_ her! She's _all_ that's kept me going! AND IF YOU _EVER_ SAY OTHERWISE _EVER_ AGAIN, THEN I'LL-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Lucy exclaimed, pulling him from Gru, who looked like he'd just witnessed a ghost sighting. She nodded in Edith's direction, and as Jack turned, he'd never known so much guilt in his entire life. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she looked beyond terrified.

Jack's face quickly transitioned from anger to a complete look of emptiness. What had he done!? How could he ever do this!? This was all his fault! He felt immense hatred towards himself, and as he realized just how close her got to killing Gru right there, he felt even worse.

Chances are, Edith now hated him and wanted him gone...

So without her...

...what reason was there to continue?

Unable to watch her horrified face any more, he pushed himself past everyone and slammed the living room door and the front door _HARD_ as he left the house. Tears seeping from his eye-lids, he flung open the van door and jumped into the driver's seat, growling under his breath. Quickly, he spun off down the road, his foot pressed hard on the accelerator...

Edith couldn't believe what just happened. She was unsure as to how to feel. She was angry with Jack. She was angry with Gru. But then, at the same time, the words Jack used just before he left made her feel so happy inside. Nobody had ever said those kind of things to her before.

Gru huffed and rubbed his forehead, looking both stressed and regretful. Calming himself down, he turned and faced his middle-daughter, talking to her as soothingly as he could.

"Sweetie..." Gru began softly. However, before he had the chance to continue, she scrunched her expression and anger and ran out of the room, screaming as she left.

"DON'T TALK TO ME!" She yelled. Slamming the door as hard as she could, the room was plunged into an extremely tense silence.

Gru looked incredibly shocked with her reaction. In complete guilt, he put his head down and turned away from his wife, who was sending him a death stare.

"Why would you say that, Gru!?" She exclaimed. "Edith was standing right there! Jack isn't exactly a great person, but he would never kill his own sister!"

"And how would _yoo_ know dat?" Gru asked angrily, but quietly. At this point, he was very tired of yelling.

"Because he loves her, Gru!" Lucy retorted. "Don't tell me you haven't seen it in his eyes! She clearly means everything to him! And after you just told her all that, she might never want to see him again! How would you like it if the girls found out all about the evil things you did in the past!? You probably wouldn't like it, huh!?"

"But I never killed anyone, Lucy!" Gru argued, approaching her. "I've known dat guy one day and he's already killed a man een my backyard! Who knows what else he'll do eef he stays here forever!"

"Answer me this then, Gru!" Lucy exclaimed, shaking her head. "If _you_ got the chance to redeem yourself with three girls, then why doesn't Jack!? Are _you_ the only person on earth who's allowed to transition from bad guy to good guy!?"

Gru scoffed and turned away, clearly not in the mood for another argument. He slumped himself down on the sofa and dropped his head. This day had taken a very harsh turn.

"Jack did what he did to protect _us_!" Lucy continued. "Maybe it was quite a bad decision, but...if it wasn't for him...then Edith..." Lucy struggled to continued, finding herself choking on her own words. Eventually, the dreaded fact continued. "...Edith would be _dead_."

Gru groaned and held his head in his hands. Those words felt like a knife to the heart. The very thought of any of his family dying made him sick to his stomach. Considering how close Edith got to death, he should be thankful she's still here.

And that reminded him who he should be thankful of. After Jack saved his daughter's life and then ensured no further harm could come to any of them, he repaid him by berating his entire life and telling his little sister how bad of a person he was.

The regret he felt was unbelievably strong...

"I think it's best you slept on the sofa..." Lucy said, turning away and angrily thundering out of the room.

Scowling again, this time at himself, he stared at the ceiling and internally chastised himself. But, what he didn't realize at the time, the harsh words that he used a few minutes ago...

...could've just costed Jack his life.

* * *

Jack raced down the road and pulled up outside of a small apartment building. He jumped out of the van and trudged up to the buzzers. He pressed the buzzer for apartment '725' before a voice answered over the speakers.

"Who is it?" The voice asked sharply. Hiding away the dejected emptiness, Jack put a cheer of fake enthusiasm into his voice.

"It's your good 'ol pal." He greeted.

"Oh, Jack!" The voice exclaimed, now sounding upbeat with the voice of his best-friend. "I wasn't expecting you tonight! I'll let you in now."

The large double doors opened and Jack walked through the small ground floor lobby, towards the elevator. He clicked the button for the seventh floor, and after entering, the elevator doors closed up.

After emerging on to the seventh floor, Jack wandered up to the apartment door that read 725, a gruff frown as he did so, and knocked on it. A thin teenager, who was around the same as Jack, opened the door and gave the former IVB agent a welcoming smile.

"Bro!" He boomed happily, putting out his fist for a fist bump. Jack met it solemnly. "How's it going, man!? I haven't seen you in a few days!"

"Yeah, well..." Jack started, smirking playfully. "You're a bit of a tool so I've been trying to avoid you, but I couldn't find anyone else who was willing to befriend a villain."

"So, you've come crawling on back to Darren, huh?" Darren joked, smiling smugly. "Get in here, bro!"

Jack walked into the apartment, and the instant that Darren closed the door, Jack stopped faking his smile and brought the emptiness back into his expression. It seemed appropriate, since there was nothing filling his insides right now.

"So, Darren..." He began. "I'm...uh...I'm not here for a catch-up."

"Oh..." Darren replied, giving him an odd questioning look. He walked over to the sofa and gestured Jack to follow, which the long-haired teen did. "Well, what's going on then?"

"Look...some things have gone down." Jack began sadly. "I've...um...I've found my sister."

"WHAT!?" Darren shouted happily. "Bro, that's sick! How's she doin'!?"

"Yeah...good..." Jack mumbled, slumping down on the couch. "She's got this amazing adopted family and all these people who care for her. She's...really happy with everything."

"Man, that's awesome!" Darren cheered. "What've I been telling you, Jack!? I said you'd find her sooner or later!"

"Hmm..." Jack murmured, dropping his head lower. Noticing the solemn pout on Jack's face, Darren twisted his face and moved to sit beside him.

"She...does believe your her brother, right?" He questioned carefully.

"Yeah, thank god." Jack replied. Darren became even more puzzled as to his unexplained sorrow.

"So...why'd you look so down?" He asked. Jack sighed heavily. Talking about this won't be easy, as right now, he was fairly sure everything in his entire life had just gone completely wrong. That would be the second time...

"This guy broke into her house and tried to kill her, and then I saved her life," Jack started, feeling the sting of tears force on his eyes. "So to make sure she remained safe, I shot the intruder and killed him in their backyard. Edith found out...and then her adoptive dad said all these things...and now...I think...I think she hates me..."

"Hates you?" Darren inquired, shocked to see a few tears roll down his cheeks. He had never seen Jack cry. Not once in their fourteen year friendship had he teared up or sobbed. He really must be upset if he's doing so now. "Come on, you don't really think that, do you?"

"You didn't see how she reacted, Darren!" Jack exclaimed, turning to his best-friend. By the look in his eyes, it was as if all sense of happiness was completely erased from existence. "She yelled at me so loud. That would've made me proud, since she's got the exact same yell as me. But...she looked so terrified, man. She looked at me like I was the worst person on earth!"

Darren was now lost for words. He wasn't particularly good at dealing with emotional people, and right now, Jack looked much more than just emotional. He didn't know what he could say to sooth Jack's feelings, and even though he was afraid about what he might do, all he could do was stare.

"And if _SHE_ thinks I'm terrible, what else do I have!?" He yelled, startling his friend with the sound of his voice. "Edith is the only one who I've ever loved! And now, she HATES ME! HOW THE HELL CAN I CONTINUE ON THIS TERRIBLE PLANET IF SHE THINKS OF ME LIKE THAT!?"

"Bro..." Darren spoke softly, now becoming fearful. "Just...just calm dow-"

"I CAN'T CALM DOWN, DARREN!" Jack screamed. "WHY DOES EVERYONE I LOVE END UP HATING ME!? WHY DID MY PARENTS ABANDON ME SO MUCH!? WHY DOES EVERYONE TREAT ME SO BADLY!?" Finally, his loud voice lowered to a whimper. "Why can't someone just...just give me a chance...?"

Darren looked beyond shocked. Jack was now crying and shaking, in what looked like a mental breakdown. He didn't know how he could possibly react or respond, and in total fear, he just watched him with wide-eyes as he hyperventilated uncontrollably.

After a few seconds of silence, which felt like an eternity to the two of them, Jack lifted his head and looked at Darren with the most depressed and lifeless expression the teenager had ever seen. It was very clear he'd had enough of everything, and that was scaring Darren to no end.

"Did you know that...my dad tried to kill me when I was six?" Jack quizzed. Darren gasped quietly and shook his head. He'd known Jack was mistreated by his parents, but he never knew it extended to those kind of lengths. Shaking violently again, Jack clenched his fists and growled hard, striking fear into Darren's heart. "Time to finish what he never could!"

Standing up at speed, Jack reached into his back pocket and took out his trusty handgun, which he quickly lifted to his own head. Panicking desperately, Darren leaped from his seat and lunged him, attempting to steal the gun from him before he killed himself right in his apartment.

"WOAH! WOAH!" He yelled, reaching out for the gun. As Jack used his other arm to easily keep him back, Darren continued to panic and scramble to stop him. "Just...take it easy, bro. Please put the gun down..."

"WHY!?" Jack screamed, his eyes were a dark red and the tears looked never-ending. "I just...I can't do it any more..."

"Do _what_ any more?" Darren spoke calmly, trying to rescue the situation before things got out of control.

"Live without her..." Jack muttered. He was crying hard as he pushed the gun further into his head. "I can't...I can't live without Edith any more..."

"YOU DON'T _HAVE_ TO LIFE WITHOUT HER, JACK!" Darren retorted loudly, figuring that yelling back was the only way to save him. "You're her brother, for god sake! You may have done some bad things in the past, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love you!"

"She only found out about me nine hours ago, Darren..." Jack mumbled. "You can't develop a love for someone in nine hours..."

"Jack, don't you understand?" Darren asked, putting his hand on his arm and pulling the gun down to his side. Thankfully this time, Jack didn't protest. "Your sister just found out that she has a brother. She can't just forget about you. If you kill yourself now, it'll only hurt her deeply. And if you become the third member of her family to die, then I mean _DEEPLY_!"

His words weren't filling the empty gap in his heart. It just didn't make sense to him. There was no way Edith had developed a love for him in this short amount of time, but she certainly could develop a hatred for him that quickly.

And as he thought harder, he realized something. Edith probably would be hurt if she found out he was dead. He didn't want that, but with a simple solution, it wouldn't matter. Since, it couldn't hurt her...

...if she didn't remember him.

Lifting his head at lightning speed, Jack holstered the handgun and darted towards the apartment door. Startled by his sudden sprint, Darren narrowed his eyes and questioned him.

"Hey, where are you going!?" He exclaimed.

"Breaking back into Gru's house..."

* * *

 _And there is the end of Chapter Six. Hope you didn't find it too intense..._

 _Chapter Seven will be out as soon as I can get it done!_


	7. Those Three Words

_Apologies for taking so long to release this chapter. It usually takes around two days to get a new chapter up, but things are getting pretty hectic recently and I've been struggling to write._

 _I refuse to leave this story unfinished though, so even though I might take a little longer from now on, I WILL get to the conclusion._

 _Let's go..._

* * *

 **Chapter Seven -  
** ** _Those Three Words_**

Solemnly, Gru trudged through the hallway and into the kitchen. It was getting quite late, but as much as his eyelids were beginning to sting, he wasn't ready to go to sleep. There were just too many thoughts inside his head. Too much regret.

He wandered up to the top kitchen cupboard, the one that none of the girls could reach, and picked out his special hidden bottle of whiskey. Gru was not much of a drinker. In fact, he hadn't drunk any alcohol for four years, but he would always ensure that a bottle of whiskey was nearby, just in case everything got too stressful.

He grabbed the shot glasses that were placed beside it and wandered over to sit at the kitchen table. He slumped down into the booth and poured the first shot, downing it quickly. Considering that it had been so long since he had last drunk alcohol, the strength and bitterness hit him unexpectedly. He blinked and cringed, but, he still found it pleasant.

As he sat there, plugging through shot after shot of whiskey, he replayed the events of the day in his head. It had all started off so well, what with Edith seeming as happy as ever in the company of her newfound brother, but, in a horrible turn of proceedings, it ended dreadfully.

Gru knew that Edith was the angry type. She had been expressing it ever since they first met. In fact, that was one of the things Gru loved the most about her. People who have a short temper are usually feared more than others, which is something useful to have in your back pocket when people start frustrating you.

But, in the three years that he'd known her, he had never heard her yell at him that venomously before. It almost reminded him of how loud Jack shouted when he kidnapped him, and that similarity frightened him a little.

His mind started clicking more connections between Jack and Edith. They seemed like basically the same person, obviously bar for gender. That was probably the reason Edith had accepted him so quickly. That, and the fact that he'd saved her life, of course.

But, the one thing that still confused him, was Jack's previous life and actions. Considering his former IVB status and considering the things that he'd told him in the kitchen, Jack had clearly killed a lot of people, and did so without too much guilt.

But, the question is, _why_?

It didn't make any sense. What motive did he have to gladly end the lives of five young prisoners? How could he nonchalantly live a job of killing villains, when he clearly shows signs of love and care towards his family? How can someone, who is related to such a sweet and innocent girl like Edith, be a stone-cold murderer?

He really didn't have an answer.

As he continued to ponder questions in his head, a small noise sounded from down the hallway, snapping Gru out of his thoughts. He got up from the table and wandered over to the kitchen door, peeking his head down the hallway.

There was nothing…

With a shrug, Gru turned around and re-entered the kitchen. Maybe these damning thoughts were making him paranoid. As he took a few steps towards the table, the sound of a small thump came from the living room.

A small thump that he knew all too well…

In a panic, he darted out of the kitchen and sprinted down the hallway towards the living room. Sure enough, he emerged into the room just as the elevator closed and fell down inside the floor. He gasped in surprise before running over, attempting to catch a glimpse of the person inside. Unfortunately, they was facing away from him, and sported a large hoodie to make themselves less identifiable.

As the floor sealed up again and the elevator disappeared, Gru hammered his fist on the rhino chair's button, bouncing on the spot as he waited for it to return. After an agonizing forty-second wait, the floor opened, and the elevator ascended again, a loud 'whizz' sound accompanying it.

Gru sprinted inside and descended quickly into the floor. Upon coming to a stop at the bottom of the lab, he raced out of the elevator and jumped in surprise as he found the hooded figure pointing a handgun at Dr. Nefario, who looked absolutely terrified.

"I said..." The person muttered angrily. " _WHERE_ IS IT!?"

"I...uh..." Nefario replied, looking beyond flustered. That wasn't much of a surprise, considering someone was pointing a loaded handgun at his head. The elderly man spun his gaze around the room, clearly searching for something in particular, before noticing the former villain standing just in front of the elevator. "GRU! Where's the memory eraser!?"

"What? De memory eraser?" Gru questioned, giving him a quizzical look. As he watched Nefario in confusion, the hooded figure turned and inspected Gru, allowing the AVL agent to identify him. "What de... _Jack_?"

"Hey there, Gru..." Jack responded cheerily, the hood covering his face a little, making him look quite fiendish. "Me and your little friend here were just having a _nice chat_."

"I wouldn't class pointeeng a gun at heem as a _'nice chat'_! Gru yelled, getting angry. He wasn't afraid of Jack's intimidation techniques anymore. This teenager was causing a number of problems in his life, and to be brutally honest, he was getting a little sick and tired of him.

"Oh?" Jack queried, looking at the gun and then back at Gru, all the while retaining that evil smirk of his. "You're right. I do believe that's a little unfair."

"Unfair?" Gru probed, approaching Jack dangerously. "What do yoo mean by _dat_!?"

"I mean..." Jack spoke, his cheery face descending quickly into a beyond livid one. "That it's unfair that just me and _him_ should have all the fun."

Suddenly, without warning, Jack used his free hand to reach into his back pocket and grab a second handgun. He pointed it at Gru, while keeping the other one locked on to Nefario. Gru retained his hostile expression, not feeling afraid in the slightest.

"Pfft...yoo're not gonna shoot me." Gru spoke with a sneer, still walking towards him hazardously. "What's your seester gonna do eef I'm dead, huh? She'll be back een Miss Hattie's and back to some terrible life she hates! Do yoo really want dat to happen!?"

Jack shook in outrage, clearly infuriated with Gru's response. Lowering the gun, it did seem that that statement had defeated him. The AVL agent smiled in victory, knowing that he'd won this round, before putting his hands on his hips and leering.

"Dat's what I thought." He proclaimed proudly. However, catching Gru off guard, Jack snarled and strutted up to him, grabbing Gru by the collar and lifting him up above his head. As he did so, his enormous bicep tensed up, making Gru gawk in shock. This kid must've been lifting weights ever since the moment he was born…

"You _really_ think that I won't hurt you!?" Jack screamed, jerking Gru back and forth in the air. "Do you even remember who I am, Gru!? _I'm_ the one who threatened to splatter your brains across the warehouse wall! _I'm_ the one who killed five young prisoners to get some stupid little job where I was forced into murdering people! _I'm_ the one who was sentenced to ten years in prison for killing my social worker! I really don't _care_ if she has to go back to the orphanage! I'll kill you, your wife, and your other two daughters in _COLD BLOOD_!"

He didn't really mean the words he was using, but as the IVB had taught him, a bad attitude and dark lies are the key to an effective piece of intimidation.

"What ees _WRONG_ weeth yoo!?" Gru shouted, sending him a deeply irate frown. He was starting to feel the fear creep up on him, but to retain his intimidating expression, he kept it well hidden. "One meenute, yoo act like a good person! De next, yoo act like some sort of MANIAC!"

Growling again, Jack threw Gru over a nearby lab table, making him hit the ground with a large thump. Groaning in pain, Gru rolled over and attempted to get back on his feet, but as he did so, Jack strolled up and picked him up again, staring dead into his fearful eyes.

"D'you wanna know what's wrong with me...?" He muttered through gritted teeth. In pure rage, Jack threw Gru up against the hard metal wall and watched as he moaned in agony. Slumping to the ground again, Gru looked up at him almost pleadingly, as if he were attempting to use his eyes to take back everything he'd said. Jack seemed completely unfazed, evident by the way he balled his fists and growled threateningly.

Gru was almost 100% sure he was going to kill him, purely based on the complete fury in his eyes alone. His mind seemed to be at some sort of limit, and with all the damning words he'd used recently, Gru was fairly sure he'd breached past that limit.

However, this time seeming a lot more solemn, Jack kneeled down and looked into Gru's eyes, talking with an air of complete misery.

"This." Jack spoke with acrimony, pointing at his head. " _This_ is what's wrong with me. Every time things start going right, THIS _BRAIN_ , messes everything up! When my sister was born, and I was finally given someone to love, my brain decided it would be a good idea to _KILL THE SOCIAL WORKER_ , so she could be taken away from me and I could go back to living a life of complete loneliness! When I found her again and entered a new life FULL of possibility, my brain decided to kill Fierce and tell you all about the _STUPID_ stuff I've done, just so Edith could hate me and think of me as some piece of garbage!"

"Jack, she doesn't-" Gru started, before being completely interrupted.

"I'M NOT FINISHED!" Jack yelled, making Gru shut his mouth in fright. "My brain keeps trying to find some way to be happy, but just as I'm about to get it, I snatch it away from myself by doing idiotic things and _NEVER_ learning from them! I mean…I…all I want is…" Suddenly, Jack choked on his words and dropped his head, the pain hitting him like a truck. "All I want is just… _someone_ to love…"

A tear rolled down Jack's cheek, as he put his head down lower and sniffled, looking as sad as his insides were empty. He despised crying in front of people, as he didn't deserve the pity of others, but this was all getting too much.

Gru glared at Jack with a mixed look of sympathy and terror. He wanted to say something to try and calm him down, but considering he'd just been thrown heavily into a metal wall, the pain that covered his body was just too much. He winced in discomfort and put his head down, but just after doing so, Jack perked up and used his finger to lightly lift it back up.

"Now…you're gonna listen to me before you _NEVER_ see me again!" He exclaimed, the tears rolling irrepressibly down his cheeks. "I'm gonna find and use that memory eraser, walk out that front door, and complete one final mission. I wish you and your family a good life..."

Gru felt that his last sentence wasn't entirely accurate...

"Why do yoo need de memory eraser...?" He mumbled, as the pain in his head was beginning to soar. Before responding, Jack looked down at the ground. His face looked deeply saddened and the tears were rolling out faster and faster as time went on.

"Edith would be hurt to find out that I'm dead..." Jack whimpered, making Gru perk his head up in suspicion and worry. "She may think I'm some terrible waste of space, but it will still hurt her to lose another family member. The IVB still want to kill your whole family! So, I'm gonna find your memory eraser, get rid of Edith's memory of me, and then I'm gonna take on the IVB _on my own_."

"On your own!?" Gru yelled, his body and head still aching. "Dat ees…dat ees _SUICIDE_!"

Jack looked at Gru with the most blank and depressed expression he had ever seen.

"That's the point..." He mumbled.

Turning around, Jack started looking through a multitude of different gadgets and devices that were stacked atop a nearby shelf. He tried hard to read the label of each device, but with the blinding blur of tears, it was quite arduous.

"Be careful with those!" Nefario yelled. Jack turned and sent him a threatening expression, making Nefario step back in slight fear, remembering that this kid pointed a gun at him just a few minutes ago.

"Jack! Wait!" Gru yelled, standing up on his feet and trying his hardest to ignore the huge pain that spread across his whole body as he did so. "Edith doesn't theenk yoo're a terrible person!"

"Hmph..." Jack huffed, slowly turning around to face Gru. He seemed fatigued and empty, as if he was completely tired of everything. "You saw the way she cried. She was absolutely terrified of me. Thanks to you and your little _assumption_ …"

"Okay, okay! I made a meestake, and I should never have claimed dat yoo would've killed her..." Gru started, lowering his head to show how genuine he was. "But I know Edith really well. She steel loves yoo, I know she does…"

Jack, who still seemed unconvinced, turned back around to the gadgets with a sigh. He closed his eyes as he did so, as if he was in deep physical pain.

"Please don't leave her, Jack." Gru spoke shallowly, dropping his head. "Yoo're her brother. Eef yoo leave her now, eet'll hurt her just as much as when her parents passed."

"Don't be stupid, Gru…" Jack replied, turning around slowly. His eyes were damp with tears. "She's only known me for _one_ day. She hasn't had the chance to love me yet. And now that she's afraid of me, she'll never _EVER_ love me."

"Jack, yoo do realize dat she's grown up weethout _anyone_ blood related to her, right?" Gru said, approaching him with a little limp in his walk. "Yoo could see eet een her face when she was conveenced dat yoo were her brother. She was so happy to have a genetic family member again!"

Jack looked at Gru sadly, before, once again, turning away to the gadgets.

"Yep, and I messed it all up..." He mumbled.

"Jack! For god's sake, leesten to me!" Gru snapped, getting a little frustrated at his insistent hate for himself. Jack turned his gaze slightly, still seeming solemn and nowhere near convinced. "Yoo deed de right theeng by killing Fierce! Yoo risked your own life to save Edith's and protect all of us from harm, and for dat, I thank yoo. I theenk yoo are an amazing person! And I know dat, deep down, Edith theenks de same theeng."

Jack turned fully to face Gru.

"You're just lying to make me feel better..." He said, still looking empty.

"I'm not." Gru spoke softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And I'm gonna prove eet to yoo."

"How are you gonna do that?" Jack inquired with a sigh, putting his head down. It looked like nothing was going to perk his spirits up.

"Well...yoo remember de way yoo checked to see eef Edith loved me?" Gru asked, gesturing to Dr. Nefario while Jack's head was down, ensuring he didn't notice.

"Yeah..." Jack muttered. He thought back to the way Edith hugged Gru while he was bruised and strapped to a chair. The image of her crying into him made him feel weak inside. She clearly loved him like a biological family member, something he'll never experience again…

"Well...I'm sorry for dis." Gru stated. Catching the teen off-guard, Nefario shot a tranquilizer dart at Jack, sending him to sleep instantly. Gru attempted to bend down and catch him, but the pain in his back wouldn't allow him to lower down in time, and he hit the floor with a hard slam.

"Oh god..." Nefario mumbled, staring at Jack's inanimate body. "He's actually gonna kill me for that, isn't he?"

Gru looked down at him, glaring at his motionless body, before looking back up at Nefario with a semi-serious expression.

"Eef Edith doesn't react de way I hope she weel..." Gru started. "Den probably…"

* * *

Edith had finally stopped crying. For the past hour, she had just been lying awake, quietly sobbing to herself to not wake the rest of her family. She was feeling an array of emotions.

Guilt, fright, sadness, anger, regret…

She really didn't know what to think. Jack had _killed_ someone. Her own brother had ended the life of another human being. Should she stop talking to him forever? Should she forgive and forget? She really didn't have a clue. I mean, who knows?

Jack could've been the one who killed her parents…

Before what she'd just found out about him, Jack seemed like the best brother you could ever ask for. He was so alike her in many more ways than just one. Not to mention the fact that he'd saved her life.

She wished she'd never found out, because after doing so, she was now sincerely afraid of losing someone she was actually beginning to care about…

Margo had also completely ignored her as the family got back into bed. And for the first time ever, she was pretty sure Agnes was actually angry with her.

Agnes had never been properly angry with someone before...

She wanted to apologize to everyone for what she said, but she felt like she was just too enraged to say anything yet. If she tried to fix things now, then chances are, she would make things worse. She decided that she would apologize first thing in the morning, after she'd calmed down a little.

Closing her eyes, she attempted to fall into the abyss of sleep. Not only was she incredibly tired, but the stress of all these different emotions was giving her a painful headache, and all she wanted was to get some rest. But, unfortunately for her, a large sound from outside shook the whole house, pulling her from sleep instantly.

 **BANG!**

Her eyes flung open and she sat straight up. The rest of her family also slowly emerged from their sleep, sitting up and looking around the room with her.

"What was that?" Agnes mumbled tiredly. Before anyone had the chance to respond, Gru came darting into the room, startling everyone as they winced under the hallway's light.

"EDITH!" Gru screamed, seeming in complete panic. "Come down to de back yard! Your brother ees een trouble!"

Edith gasped and leaped out of her sleeping bag, darting out of the room and down the hallway. She bounded down the stairs and got to the back door, which had been precariously left open. Uneasily, she perked her head outside, and upon adjusting to the darkness, found Jack…

He was lying lifeless on the ground. His shirt and trousers had been torn, and his face was covered in dirt. Blood was visible in very small patches on his arm, and overall, he looked in complete disrepair.

A million questions lined up in Edith's mind, but considering the sight in front of her, not a single word dared escape her mouth. All her frightened mind could manage, was a blank, emotionless stare.

After a minute of silence, which seemed to last an eternity to Edith, the rest of the family appeared at the back-door, gasping in shock at the sight of the teen's disgruntled appearance.

"Oh my god!" Lucy exclaimed, quickly kneeling to cover Agnes's eyes. "What happened?"

"Well, Jack came back to de house and apologized to me for everytheeng dat had happened, and then, we heard a commotion een de backyard." Gru explained, losing himself in his fake cover story. Just as Lucy did for the girls the previous night, he needed to act like the world was about to meet its dismal end in order to keep up the act sufficiently. "Some IVB agent was out here, and although we scared heem off, he managed to lob a grenade over de fence and Jack took de full brunt of eet."

Upon mentioning it, the explosion hole in the backyard, which was obviously left by the grenade, now entered the family's line of sight. Everyone had been so busy glaring at Jack's inanimate body, that nobody had noticed the ground damage until it was mentioned. The darkness of the night didn't help with that either.

"Is he...?" Lucy quizzed quietly, turning to face Gru. She avoided finishing the question, simply to evade scaring the girls. But, if the answer was the dreaded one, then that would be rendered obsolete.

"Uh…I…I just checked his pulse..." Gru started quietly and sadly. Building up the suspense, Gru fell silent. He knew this story would be hard to stage, but he knew the hardest part would be telling Edith the false bad news. He was extremely afraid of her reaction, and all he wanted to do was back out of the plan. But, he was in too deep at this point, and he had to get it over with. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Gru spoke as grave as his voice box would allow. "I'm sorry, Edith."

Edith had no reaction. No thoughts entered her mind. Only emptiness. It was like her brain had been ripped from her body.

The silence around her was painful. Dread overcome her like a tsunami. Time almost stopped dead.

It was happening again, only this time, she would never forget it.

* * *

Jack woke up to the uncomfortable feeling of grass blades on his back. Stinging pain dominated his arms and legs, and his head was thumping with a strong headache. However, overall, he felt relaxed and refreshed. Prior to being shot with the tranquilizer dart, Jack hadn't gotten any sleep in almost twenty-seven hours, and it was therapeutic to fall unconscious for a little while.

However, with that, Jack came to a stark realization.

 _'I just got shot with a tranquilizer dart.'_

His expression transitioned to anger, and at speed, he sat up. Whoever just shot him with the dart was gonna pay, he would ensure that. Rubbing his eyes, the teen inspected his surroundings, the night's blinding darkness making it difficult. Upon noticing the whole Gru family leering down at him in their pyjamas, Jack narrowed his eyes and sent them a puzzled look.

"What's going on?" He asked, rubbing his head. However, after taking a second look, Jack noticed the tears flashing in Edith's eyes, and concern dropped over him like a falling anvil. "Why…why are you cryi-"

"JACK!" Edith interrupted with a huge cheer. She sprinted over and leaped in his direction, trying to touch him to ensure he was definitely still alive. As she jumped and headed for a painful thud on the ground, Jack leaned forward quickly and caught her in his arms, being caught off guard as she latched on to his chest in a tight hug.

"Woah, woah." Jack marvelled, smiling slightly at her affection. In return, he wrapped his arms around her back, hoping sincerely that this hug was genuine. "What's this for?"

"Dad said you were..." Edith whimpered, her voice quiet, yet clearly relieved. "... _dead_."

"Dead!?" Jack exclaimed, looking up at Gru and shooting him a death stare. However, upon realizing the kind gesture he'd just done, his anger softened, and he sent him a thankful smile. Gru didn't react, as he was still trying to keep up the act. Chuckling, Jack pulled Edith out of the hug and stared into her red eyes, trying to calm her panicked state. "Do I look dead to you?"

Edith sighed and smiled, thankful that the answer was positive. Frowning, Edith spun and glared at her father, who turned away with a fake expression of pure embarrassment.

"Uh…maybe I deedn't check his pulse correctly..." He spoke, looking at the ground awkwardly. Edith wanted to yell at him for scaring her like that, but at that moment, she didn't really care. All that mattered was that her biological brother was still alive and well.

Beaming, Edith spun around and hugged Jack once again. She couldn't really explain why this boy suddenly meant so much, since they only met ten hours ago, but it didn't necessarily matter. He was someone who she could relate to, in more than just blood, and that's what she loved about him.

While being absorbed in the large hug, Jack realized that he needed to speak up and apologize. Not only to Edith for scaring her, but also to the world for his past. However, it was proving difficult, as every single time that he tried to open his mouth, his throat would close up with nerve.

Panicking a little with the growing silence, Jack looked up and glared at Gru, as if he was desperately asking for help. In return, Gru grinned a little and nodded at him, as if to pump confidence into his body. Jack smiled back and closed his eyes, sighing before beginning the much-needed apology.

"I'm…uh…I'm sorry for being a villain, Edith..." Jack began. Edith broke out of the hug and peered up at him, watching as his eyes filled up with pure anxiety. "I've done some stupid stuff, and I'm not proud of any of it. But…I really do wanna change. I know it'll be hard, but…I _know_ I can do it. Could you…maybe gimme a second chance?"

Edith didn't need much time to decide her answer. Ever since it began, she just wanted to rid this conflict, to ensure that her and her brother didn't end up separating again.

"Sure..." She mumbled. Jack couldn't hold back the huge relieved smile. "But…can I ask you something?"

"Anything." He responded hastily.

"Did you…really mean what you said in the living room?" Edith asked, cocking her head to the side. Jack gave her a puzzled look, unsure as to what she was referring to.

"What do you mean?"

"Like…" Edith started, twiddling her fingers as she spoke. "When you said that I was the best thing that had ever happened to you. Did you _really_ mean that?"

Smiling again, Jack couldn't help but chuckle.

"Of course, I meant that!" He exclaimed happily. "Everything _sucked_ 'til you came around."

Edith beamed again. That was just the answer she'd been hoping for. Ever since he'd used those words in the living room, Edith had unconsciously been rooting for Jack's side. That was the main reason she got so angry with Gru.

But then, her smile faded…

She realized what she had to say next. _Those three words_. She may not have known him for that long, but for reasons she couldn't exactly explain, she felt like she _had_ to say them.

She couldn't lie, she wasn't the biggest fan of saying it. Maybe it was the fear that it wasn't mutually shared, or maybe it was that lingering dread of abandonment, but for some reason, telling someone these words was an extremely difficult task.

Turning away, Edith took in a deep breath and prepared herself. Opening herself up like this was a risk, and even though it sincerely scared her, something deep down was telling her that it was a risk worth taking.

Like an uncomfortable alarm in his head, Jack could immediately sense Edith's discomfort, and all of his thoughts were stolen instantaneously. His smile swiftly faded, and like a flood encompassing his brain, worry overtook him at speed.

Before he had the chance to question her, Edith beat him to it, and finally perked up with the words she'd been dreading so much.

"Uh…Jack?" She started, shuffling uneasily. "I…uhhh...I love you."

Jack's face dropped like a stone.

His eyes widened, and his lips parted. It was like he was just hit around the head with a blunt and painful object, but for whatever reason, it didn't hurt. Instead, it provided an internal feeling of which he'd never felt before, and it was making it hard for him to control the speed of his breathing.

Every bad emotion that he'd ever felt in his entire life seemed to disappear from his memory. That usual lonely feeling of emptiness started filling up. His brain struggled to comprehend what was happening to him, and in an attempt to get it to function, he lightly shook his head.

He didn't have a clue what was happening, and out of pure confusion, it was starting to scare him deeply. Was this just a feeling of happiness? Or maybe a feeling of surprise? Or maybe something entirely different? He hadn't a clue.

No matter the feeling, he could sense those three words changing him from the inside...

He pulled her in for another hug, and as his grip on reality was slowly fading, felt a few small tears drip slowly from his eyes. Finally, after a few seconds of holding her tight, he gained the ability to respond.

"I love you _too._ "

* * *

The whole family were sat in Gru and Lucy's bedroom, simply chatting. Edith and Jack had been conversing for the past thirty minutes, with Jack looking a million miles away the entire time. Edith had spent most of it telling Jack about the events with El Macho and Balthazar Bratt, ensuring to boast about all the times she was almost killed.

You could see the unease in Jack's eyes every time she did so.

Margo and Agnes were having a conversation on the other side of the room, there's being a lot more juvenile. The two of them were purposely ignoring Edith, and they would occasionally share angry glances with their sister, as if to remind her of what she had said only a few hours ago.

Gru and Lucy were simply watching everyone talk in complete silence, a warm smile occupying both their expressions.

Lucy was still a little angry with Gru for the awful words he had used against Jack, but she forgot all about it while her family were getting along. The two of them hadn't even noticed the small rift that was occurring between Edith and her two sisters.

After yawning for the fourth time in five minutes, Lucy was finally ready to get back to bed, remembering that her three young daughters were still up at gone-midnight.

"Come on then, girls. Back in bed..." She muttered tiredly, rubbing her eyes as she did so. Margo and Agnes complied, while Edith, as usual, protested.

"Awww!" She groaned. "But me and Jack are talking!"

"Come on Edith, we've been talking for half-an-hour." Jack mumbled, pretending to be tired. The truth was, he would've loved to spend all night talking with his little sister, but those words she'd used earlier were still in his head, and all of his thoughts were occupied elsewhere. "It's twelve-thirty. I need some sleep!"

"Ugh...fine." Edith sighed, getting back into her sleeping bag.

"I'll see you in the morning." Jack said, giving his sister a little peck on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too." Edith cheered. Just like before, Jack could feel the tears sting at the back of his eyes, and he had to fight hard to keep them back. There was a lot of pent-up emotion inside threatening to blurt out, and to avoid staining his 'cool brother' status, he had to get away from his little sister before letting it all out.

He turned away and started towards the door, looking back just before he left.

"Uhh...Gru?" He said. "Could I…have a little word with you?"

Gru's expression dropped immediately. What did he mean by 'a little word'? He didn't really want to know. If it wasn't for Lucy giving him a nudge in the back, then he may have remained glued to the bed out of fear.

Was Jack mad at him for the whole 'knocking him unconscious and chucking him out in the backyard' thing? And if so, how hard was he going to punch him?

Gru slowly trudged out of the room and into the hallway, where he found Jack rubbing his head irritably and looking extremely uncomfortable. It looked like he was straining, as if he was trying hard to hold something back.

A punch maybe...

"Umm…what ees eet yoo want den?" Gru questioned apprehensively, making sure that he was a good enough distance away from the muscular teen so that he couldn't hurt him.

"Uh...can we go down in the lab or something?" Jack requested quietly, giving him a skittish look. "I don't want Edith to hear this."

Gru was even more nervous now. Surely, Jack was going to hurt him somehow. Why else would he not want Edith to hear him?

He doubted that he was planning to severely hurt him, since he didn't seem _murderously_ angry, but he'll probably still create some pain.

He tried hard to keep up his strong and confident demeanour, something he'd gotten used to as a former villain, and nodded his head promptly. The two walked down the stairs and into the living room, Jack fidgeting unnervingly as he walked.

Gru pressed the button on the rhino chair and watched as the elevator slammed down in front of them. They walked inside, and a second later, descended into the floor and down towards the lab.

As they emerged into the large and fairly quiet laboratory, Jack took a few steps before stopping and looking down at the cold, metal floor. Covering his eyes, he started quietly sobbing, shaking uncontrollably as he did so.

"Are yoo…okay, Jack?" Gru asked nervously, walking to stand two steps behind him.

"For the first time..." Jack started, his voice choking a little. "...yes."

Almost instantly after speaking, Jack slumped down on to the nearest chair and buried his head in his hands. He cried harder than he had ever cried before, and mirroring that of a levee, released the flood of built-up emotion.

Gru looked at him strangely, confused by what was happening. First, why was he crying if he claimed to be okay? And second, how can someone so masculine and threatening be comfortable in breaking down in front of someone?

Usually, crying is a form of weakness, and that's why Gru only does it in front of his family…

Gru was a little unsure of what to do in this situation. He'd dealt with the girls crying before, but obviously, Jack wasn't a little girl. Boys are usually a lot harder to deal with when it comes to emotions, especially when they're far into their teenage years.

Finally, he decided to wing it, deducing that standing there completely mute wouldn't help in the slightest.

"Well...yoo don't seem okay." He muttered, walking to stand in front of him.

"These are happy tears." Jack whimpered, his voice quivering as he spoke. "That was the first time that someone has ever said 'I love you' to me."

"Really?" Gru asked with disbelief. Jack nodded his head before getting back to crying. When he was fairly sure he could speak again, he continued.

"Mom and Dad never did." He began, lifting his head out of his hands to reveal his red face and bloodshot eyes. "No prizes for figuring out why. Edith was also too young to speak, and she obviously couldn't say it after we were separated. I guess…I needed someone to say it more than I realized."

"Wow..." Gru muttered, empathy striking him like a lightning bolt. That question from earlier came back to him, now confusing him a lot more than it did a few hours ago…

Why did this boy, who seems so innocent and loving, happily turn to a life of killing?

Looking up at the far away ceiling, Jack felt an exhilarating sense of elation, of which he had never felt before. As the tears finally began to halt, he stood up and handed Gru a joyful expression, the smile glued to his face seeming permanent.

"But now that someone has finally said it..." He began. "I feel like I'm… _finally_ happy. Like I'm a totally different person..."

"Different person?" Gru inquired, his expression bending questioningly. "As een how?"

"Like..." Jack started, turning away in thought. "Like I no longer feel all of that resentment that I've always felt. Like I feel like my eyes are finally wide-open. Like, for the first time, I actually feel like _Jack_..."

Gru was still beyond confused, but nevertheless, found his words to be touching. If the old, hate-filled, closed-eyed Jack was a murdering machine, then he hoped this new, happy, awakened Jack was someone safe for him and his family to be around.

He didn't want to ruin this happy moment in Jack's life, but Gru knew that he had to remind him of the big problem that still stood, as if he didn't, him and his family's lives were sure to be ruined.

"Well...I hope yoo steel have _some_ resentment left," Gru spoke, making Jack cock his head in confusion. "Because we steel have de _IVB_ to deal weeth."

For a few seconds, Jack's smile faded, as the reminder came flooding back to him. But, after only a few moments, the previous worried frown was reborn as a confident smirk.

"Gru..." He mumbled menacingly, clenching his fists in excitement. "They're not gonna know what hit 'em."

And then, catching Gru off-guard, Jack flung forward and punched the AVL agent in the arm.

"Ow!" He yelped, grabbing onto his arm in pain as he took a fearful step back. "Why'd yoo do _dat_ for!?"

"That's for _these_!" Jack exclaimed, pulling up his sleeves to reveal all of the cuts and bruises that were littered across his arms. "Was this really necessary!?"

"I had to make eet look authentic." Gru defended, wincing as his arm continued to hurt. "Yoo don't get knocked out by a grenade explosion and come back unscath-!"

That's when Jack cut him off with a punch to his other arm.

"Ah! Would yoo _stop_!" He shouted furiously.

"That's for making my sister cry!" Jack exclaimed. But, no sooner than he shouted, the teen lowered his head and shrugged, giving Gru a grateful smile. "But...uh...I haven't thanked you for what you did yet so... _thank you_."

"My pleasure." Gru replied, still wincing as he continued to hold both his arms in pain.

"How did you make that explosion hole in the ground?" Jack questioned.

"De minions always have explosives laying around somewhere, so I just used one of de RPG's I found on de floor." Gru explained, as if there was nothing at all wrong with that sentence. Jack couldn't help but humorously grin. This lab seemed like a pretty hectic place, but, just like his little sister, he couldn't get enough of a bit of danger. As the two started back towards the elevator, Gru smiled and changed the subject. "I told yoo Edith loved yoo, deedn't I."

"Yeah...you did." Jack said, looking down to the ground with a small smile. "But it still confuses me. It's only been, like, a day. How can you learn to love someone that quickly?"

"Well, maybe somewhere deep down eenside..." Gru replied. "She'd already learned to love yoo."

With a beaming smile, Jack considered Gru's response.

When Edith was a little baby, Jack would spend every possible moment with her, whenever his parents weren't stealing her away and locking him up in his bedroom to get rid of him. He would always give her little hugs and kisses, since he couldn't do it with anyone else as the rest of his family hated him deeply.

Surely, those hugs and kisses had meant _something_ to her, right? Even if she was a little baby.

After they were separated, and when times got especially tough, those memories of her were the only things that kept him going. He refused to let go of them, since he was afraid that, if he did, he would be erasing his last chance of happiness.

Maybe, just maybe, Edith did the same, but she just didn't realize it…

Just before the elevator ascended out of the lab, Jack turned to face Gru and spoke, the smile on his face seeming impenetrable.

"Yeah, maybe you're right..."

* * *

Darren sat on his sofa looking absolutely traumatized. His best friend had just held a gun to his head, and the images of what could've happened kept flashing in his mind, no matter how much he tried to forget about it. He had attempted to watch TV, but the bad thoughts wouldn't let him concentrate on the TV show, so he was forced to give up and wallow in silence.

He was extremely worried for Jack. He didn't look any better when he left the apartment, and he could've already taken his own life by now...

Darren buried his head in his hands and felt his stomach churn in fear. Just before he ran out of the apartment with a frighteningly determined expression on his face, Jack said he was going to break back into someone called Gru's house.

Who was Gru?

If only he knew, since if he did, he could go find Jack and check to see if he was okay.

Darren wasn't much of the social type. If Jack was to go, then he would be practically alone. He did have family, but he didn't get along with them too well. He loved them and everything, but he hated having to talk to them. They just didn't connect with each other that well, if at all.

The main reason why Darren and Jack became friends in the first place, was that they both had individual issues with their minds. Or, that's how Darren had considered it anyway. Darren had extreme social anxiety issues, forcing him into stutters and anxiety when confronted with strangers, and Jack had, what he could only guess was, anger issues.

Jack had never once shouted at Darren in their entire friendship. They had their playful banter and all, but out of all the times they could've possibly fallen out, the two had never once had an argument. They felt right together, as if they were meant to be friends.

Darren considered Jack as the best person in his life, mainly because he seemed to understand him more than anyone else did. He found the two years that Jack was in prison a terrible and lonely time. He had sworn that the sentence was ten years, but Jack insisted that it was only two.

Darren never really questioned it...

He was a little shocked to find that Jack had started working for some villain group, and he kept to his promise of not telling anyone else about it. He kind of envied Jack for finding something that he was good at and making his whole life revolve around it. Darren however, had never found anything that he was good at, and his entire life was quickly going downhill.

So why did Jack say all of those depressing words to him? Why did he instantly want to end his own life after his sister didn't like him? Darren didn't understand, but at this point in time, he didn't care. The only question he wanted answered, was the question of whether or not Jack was still alive.

That's when a large knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts. He jumped up and ran through the apartment, hoping to see Jack's alive and well face when he opened it. Unfortunately, the person at the door was a man in a black suit, certainly not his best-friend.

"Oh..." Darren said disappointingly, slumping his shoulders down. "Who are you?"

"That doesn't concern you." The man responded sternly, making Darren shoot him a slightly insulted gaze. "You have a friend named Jack, is that correct?"

"Uh...yeah." Darren responded, narrowing his eyes. Jack had promised Darren that he wouldn't get him involved in any of his villain business.

He hoped that he hadn't broken that promise…

"Is this what he looks like?" The man asked, taking out a picture of the boy in question. The picture showed a young boy with long brown hair and strong facial features. Or in other words, the picture showed Jack.

"Yeahhh." Darren stated with apprehension, giving the man an uneasy glower.

"Good." The man stated, nodding promptly.

And then, like a flash of lightning, another man in a grey suit jumped from seemingly nowhere and shot him in the neck with a tranquilizer dart.

Darren didn't have enough time to comprehend what had happened before everything went black...

* * *

 _And there ends Chapter Seven._

 _Hopefully, there won't be another four day wait for the next installment, as I have a lot of free time over the next two days, so I should have it out pretty soon._

 _And we must be approaching 40,000 words at this point I think. I'm guessing that another 3-4 chapters will be necessary, or maybe even more. Yeah, it's a pretty long storyline._

 _Will return soon._


	8. Piecing Together

_**Nothing much to say at the beginning of this one except for my hope that you enjoy it.**_

 _ **Let's just go...**_

* * *

 **Chapter Eight -  
** _ **Piecing Together**_

The alarm clock rang to signal 8am. For the first time in a very long time, Jack didn't wake up with that usual terrible feeling. He smiled as he laid there, remembering the night before. Looking back at the moment when Edith told him those three words that seemingly changed his life.

He turned the alarm clock off and sat up on the sofa. He felt his stomach rumble, and was happy knowing he could actually eat if he went to the kitchen. Jack's dumbbells were still in his IVB dorm, so he couldn't do his morning bicep curls today. Gru had told him that the lab had a gym, but he wasn't gonna go down there and spend the whole morning searching for it. That lab was huge!

He didn't need to get changed, since he slept in his torn clothes. He should probably change into a different shirt, but he felt stronger when he wore the damaged one.

He wandered out into the hallway, and subconsciously expected a damp smell. When there wasn't one, Jack smiled and admired his beautifully decorated surroundings. There were no dirty clothes and broken items littering the floor, and he was actually quite impressed with Gru for keeping it so immaculate, especially with three young girls in the house.

He wandered down to the kitchen and entered it. There he saw Agnes sitting at the table, staring at Gru with wide hungry eyes as he was preparing a waffle. As he walked through the doors, Agnes turned to face him extremely quickly, showing all her teeth as she smiled massively.

"Hey Jack!" She yelled happily, before speaking her next sentence quietly and worryingly. "Are you feeling any better?"

Jack felt incredibly touched that Agnes was concerned with him so much. It actually surprised him just how much he was touched by it. He wandered over to the table and sat beside her.

"A lot better!" He proclaimed, as he gave her a warm smile. Agnes beamed at him again, before the concern reappeared.

"Margo said you shot someone..." She muttered, lowering her head slightly to display her worry. "Is that true?"

Jack shot Gru a fearful expression, and Gru shook his head to indicate what he wanted him to say. Jack turned back to face Agnes and spoke softly.

"Of course not." He said, before smiling. He was finding the small girl very comforting to talk to. It was like she made all the bad thoughts go away, even when she was talking seriously...

"So, Margo lied?" Agnes questioned, looking slightly hurt by her own question.

"No..." Jack muttered softly, not wanting to harm the girl's feelings in any way. "She just... _thought_ she saw me do that."

"Oh." Agnes said cheerfully. She had the unique talent of drawing happiness to her face within an instant. "Well, what did you actually do to him?"

"I shot him with something called a tranquilizer dart." Jack explained, smiling a little with how well his lie was piecing together. "It only puts him to sleep, so he can easily be put in jail."

"Oh!" Agnes chirped, lifting her head high in pure joy. "I knew you were too nice to shoot anyone."

Jack smiled warmly at her response, as Gru placed a waffle in front of both Agnes and Jack. For a second, Jack didn't know what to think and stared down at the waffle on his plate in surprise. Gru noticed his slightly startled expression and questioned it.

"What?" Gru said, cocking his head and making Jack lift his head to look up at him. "Ees dere sometheeng wrong?"

"Oh...um." Jack said, shaking his head and turning his gaze away in order to not make eye contact with him. "I guess I'm just not used to having someone make me breakfast, that's all..."

Gru understood what he meant, and was saddened by it. Agnes looked up at him with an inquisitive expression.

"What about your mommy and daddy?" She asked, with a mouthful of waffle.

"Well..." Jack said, putting on a fake calm face while feeling the unease flow through him. "They never bothered to."

"Why?" Agnes asked, sharing her attention between both Jack and the waffle.

"I dunno." Jack said, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess they just didn't like me."

Jack was finding it strangely hard to talk about this. He usually didn't care, since he'd been talking and thinking about it for years now. But today, he could feel the emotion in his mind rise to uncomfortable levels as he spoke.

In order to stop himself from getting more upset, he shook himself out of his thoughts and looked over to Gru.

"Thank you." He said, giving him a very serious look, making sure Gru knew how meaningful he was.

"Yoo're welcome." Gru replied, nodding and smiling at him. Jack was a very nice person when he wasn't throwing you around a lab.

That's when Edith came walking into the kitchen. She had her arms crossed and she wore an angry expression. She didn't look at Gru, who she could feel was looking at her, and trudged over to sit next to Jack. Her expression transitioned to joy as she saw his happy smile.

"Morning." He said, before taking his first bite of waffle.

"Morning." She replied gleefully. She saw Agnes turn away from her angrily in the corner of her eye, but tried hard to ignore her.

"Sleep well?" Jack asked, speaking through a mouthful of waffle.

"Yeah, okay I guess." She said with a small shrug. She did sleep well, but she awoke in a sour mood. Margo had shot her multiple angry glances as she made her way down to the kitchen, and Edith was too afraid to apologize to her.

That's when her older sister came walking into the kitchen, with Lucy right behind her. Lucy gave Gru a small angry glance, before looking away and walking towards the table.

"Was the sofa okay, Jack?" She asked, as she sat down beside Agnes.

"For a crocodile..." Jack started, giving her a playful smile. "...it wasn't too bad."

Lucy giggled as Margo came and sat down beside her. She kept her head down, in order to not look at Edith or Jack. She was extremely afraid of Jack, even if he seemed nice, and she felt like she was never going to forgive Edith, even if she didn't entirely mean what she said.

"Morning Margo." Gru said, as he placed a bowl of cereal down in front of her. "How are yoo feeling?"

"Uh...fine." Margo said sheepishly, keeping her head down. Gru knew what was troubling her, and knew the way to solve it.

"I was wondering eef yoo fancied coming down to de lab later." He said, as he walked back over to the waffle iron. "Nefario has made a new eenvention, dat I just know yoo're going to love."

Margo looked up at her father and smiled warmly. Not only was this a chance to stay away from Edith and Jack, but this was also a chance to spend some time with her father, which she hadn't done that much recently.

"Yeah..." She mumbled joyfully. "That sounds fun."

Gru felt a little guilty inside knowing that he was only inviting her down so he could clear her memory of what she saw, but he knew that it had to be done.

He returned her smile and opened up the waffle iron. He grabbed the prepared waffle and placed it down on a plate, before sprinkling it with sugar and moving over to the kitchen table.

He placed it down in front of Edith, who looked away from him and frowned. Gru sighed slightly and slumped his shoulders. She really was angry with him...

Jack felt a little offended for Gru to see Edith angrily look away, even after he had made her breakfast. He turned to her and gave her a quizzical expression.

"Aren't you gonna say thank you?" He asked. Edith turned and shot him a look that seemed like she was internally telling him to shut up. Gru stood in front of the kitchen table watching the two profusely, hoping that Jack could resolve this issue for him.

"Wait..." Jack said, narrowing his eyes at her. "You're not still mad at him for what he said to me, are you?"

Edith looked at Gru for a split second before putting her head down.

"A little." She muttered, the aggression in her voice indicating that her anger towards him was more than just 'a little'. Gru's expression slumped and the guilt that he had felt before swept back over him.

Jack felt both grateful and guilty, as a small warm smile broke across his face.

"Edith..." He said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're a good little sister for feeling angry for me, but you don't have to be anymore."

Edith perked her head up slowly and gave him an intrusive look.

"He already apologized to me for saying what he said." Jack continued. "And I accepted his apology..."

"It wasn't true was it?" Edith asked quickly, her expression transitioning to worry almost instantly.

"What...?" Jack asked, cocking his head in confusion.

"I mean...what he said about mom and dad." Edith replied. "It wasn't _you_ that...did it...was it?"

Jack felt himself get a little offended, but decided that responding angrily probably wouldn't help. He put an arm around her and talked to her in a deadly serious tone.

"I would never do that." He spoke. She nodded before putting her head down to look at the floor. She felt a little guilty for asking that question.

Jack looked over to Gru, before gesturing his head toward Edith to indicate to him what he needs to do next. Gru understood the signal and knelt down to try and make eye-contact with her.

"I'm sorry for saying what I said Edith." He muttered, as she turned to face him with sadness in her eyes. "I just got a leetle...angry, and I said sometheeng dat I deedn't mean. Can yoo forgeeve me?"

Edith turned away and sighed, before looking back at him and smiling.

"Yeah...I guess." She said, before Gru gave her a big hug. He was relieved that the problem was solved. After a few seconds, Edith's smile faded away again, as she analyzed his words a little more in her mind.

He got angry and said something that he didn't mean. That sounded familiar...

As the hug ended, she gave another huge sigh as she looked up at Margo, who was looking away from her with aggression visible in her eyes.

"Uh...Margo?" She said, her voice slightly quivering with anxiety. She didn't look at her, but Edith could sense Agnes diverting her full attention to her. "I wanted to say... _sorry_...for what I said. It was totally uncool, and...I wasn't being serious."

The anger in Margo's eyes seemed to fade, but she still didn't look at her. Edith could feel everyone else's eyes on her now, and that only made her more nervous.

"And...uh...I hope that you can...um... _forgive me._ "

Margo dropped her gaze to the floor, and began thinking about what Edith had said that night. She was really aggressive about it, which indicated to her that she was simply talking out of anger. She also knew how hard it was for Edith to apologize, and knew that forcing herself to say that must've been difficult.

She finally looked up at her younger sister and gave her a smile.

"Of course I can." She said quietly but happily. "Thanks Edith."

Edith smirked slightly, before looking down to the ground in embarrassment. Her bad girl reputation was definitely being ruined here...

Agnes cheered out of relief. She was happy to see her sisters get along again, and was thankful that she didn't have to hate Edith anymore.

Jack, Gru and Lucy all looked at each other with questioning expressions, before Jack shrugged and got back to eating. Lucy turned to face Gru and nodded her head at him with a warm smile, indicating that she was proud of him for apologizing.

Gru returned the smile before walking over to the kettle to make a cup of coffee. As the steam rose from out the mug, he looked over to his family around the table and felt thankful that they were piecing back together.

Unfortunately, he couldn't foresee how it was all about to fall apart again...

* * *

Darren woke up and opened his eyes to the blank sight of a large, empty room. He had been strapped to a chair and couldn't move his arms nor legs. He looked around for another person, but found that he was all alone. His heart began beating hard in his chest, as he remembered the two men in suits at his front door and what they did to him.

"HEYYYYY!" He screamed, helplessness flooding into his voice. "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!?"

That's when a door, that Darren hadn't even seen beforehand, opened up to reveal the man in the black suit. He strutted into the room, and his expression didn't change from his blank, emotionless stare when he saw him conscious.

"Good." He stated deeply. "You're awake."

"Who _are_ you!?" Darren pleaded, scanning the man profusely. The man rolled his eyes before speaking.

"If you recall, I told you that it doesn't concern you." He replied, as he continued to walk towards him. "You're going to do something for me."

"Pfft...I doubt it!" Darren retorted angrily.

"I don't." The man said sternly. "All you have to do, is sit there and look sad."

"What!?" Darren exclaimed in confusion. "Why!?"

"Because I'm sure you'd like to see your friend Jack again, wouldn't you...?" The man replied, arching his mouth into a small mischievous smile. Darren's eyes widened in fear.

"What have you done to him!?" He shouted.

"Nothing." The man replied nonchalantly. "Not yet, anyway."

Darren shook his head and hoped that what he was hearing wasn't true. Had they kidnapped Jack as well? And if so, what were they going to do to him?

"Bring in the other prisoner!" The man yelled, as he turned around to face the door. Darren felt the lump form in his throat, as he looked towards the door and expected to see Jack forcefully dragged in.

The man in the grey suit and a man in all white walked into the room. The man in grey held a gun to the man in white's head, as they walked forward to a second chair that had been placed inside the room.

"Sit down!" The man in grey yelped, before the man in white complied. The metal chair automatically trapped his arms and legs as he made contact with it.

"What ees going on!?" The man in white blurted. Darren was slightly caught off guard with his high-pitched voice and his foreign accent.

"That doesn't concern you." The man in black stated. It seemed like that was his catchphrase. "Me and my associate need you to sit there, and look sad."

"Sad!?" The man in white exclaimed, shooting his fierce gaze between both men. "I'm not _sad_! I'm _ANGRY_! Who do yoo theenk yoo are, keednapping me!?"

"If you didn't want to be kidnapped..." The man in grey muttered angrily. "Then you shouldn't have attacked the IVB headquarters with those little yellow things."

"Dey're called minions!" The man in white yelled. "And yoo aren't gonna get away weeth dis! My family weel come and save me!"

"Oh..." The man in black mumbled evilly, smirking as he did so. "We're counting on that."

"What do yoo mean by dat?" The man in white said, his voice filling with worry.

"You'll find out." The man in grey replied, as he pulled out a digital camera. "Now...look at the camera and pull a sad face."

The man in white looked over to Darren and inspected him. Darren looked back at him and gave him a confused expression, as if he was internally asking him what was going on.

"HEY!" The man in black blurted, making the two of them jump in fear. "He said...LOOK AT THE CAMERA!"

The two complied. Darren looked at the camera with worry drawn all over his face. The man in white looked at the camera with anger drawn all over his face.

The man in grey took the picture and passed the camera to his associate.

"Print out the photo, write out the note, and attach it to one of those yellow things we caught." He began. "Then knock it unconscious and put it in front of-"

"Yeah, yeah!" The man in black responded angrily, as he yanked the camera out of his associate's hand. "I know the plan!"

He thundered his way out of the room, slamming the door behind him hard. After he left, the man in white shot his vicious gaze at the man in grey.

"I'm gonna make yoo pay for dis!" He yelled, his voice getting higher as he got angrier.

"No-one _ever_ messes weeth Dru!"

* * *

That afternoon was an especially nice one for the Gru family...and Jack. After eating lunch, they all hung out in the living room, doing individual activities.

Jack and Edith were playing with the trains that had been left on the floor. Edith was having the time of her life. She never usually had this much fun playing trains, but doing it with Jack made it one of the best things ever.

Margo and Agnes were colouring together. Agnes was colouring a blue and pink unicorn, while Margo was attempting to draw a picture of her youngest sister. She wasn't great at art, so found it quite difficult.

Gru and Lucy were snuggling on the sofa watching TV. Since they were watching daytime TV, they were finding it incredibly boring and frustrating. But all they cared about was spending time with each other.

Well, that's all Lucy cared about anyway...

"Thees ees rubbeesh!" Gru exclaimed, before grabbing the remote control and flicking through the channels. "Ees dere notheeng good on TV dese days!?"

Lucy rolled her eyes playfully, before grabbing a book that had been left open nearby. As she began to read, Gru continued flipping through channels, angrily huffing as he saw what was being shown on each one.

Edith was rolling one of the trains across the floor, before stopping and looking over to her brother.

"So...did I used to play with trains a lot?" Edith asked, as Jack was having a strange amount of fun pulling one of the toys across the floor.

"Oh...what makes you ask that?" Jack pondered, as he stopped making train noises and looked up at his little sister.

"Well, when you arrived yesterday..." Edith began, glancing at the train as she looked back to the memory she was about to recall. "You looked at these train and asked if I still played with them. Did I like trains when I was little?"

Jack looked down at the same train that Edith was looking at, before a warm smile formed on his face.

"Yeah, you did..." Jack replied happily, nodding his head softly. "We used to play with them pretty much every morning before I went to school."

Jack would usually get upset when thinking back to that memory, but now that he had his sister back, he found it comforting. Edith mirrored her brother's warm smile, before asking the next question that popped in her head.

"What else did we used to do?" She said joyfully, looking back up at her brother. Jack's smile faded as he looked away from her sadly.

"Nothing else really..." He muttered, before rolling the train across the floor very slowly. "Mom and dad would play with you most of the time, so I never got the chance to."

"Well...why didn't you just play with us?" Edith inquired, her voice dipping in confusion slightly. Jack looked up at her anxiously. He realized what kind of conversation he was getting into, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell Edith how their parents had treated him yet.

"Um...well." He mumbled, scanning his mind for a good excuse. "I guess...I just...didn't."

"Well why didn't you!?" Edith blurted, narrowing her eyes at him. Jack could feel her getting offended by this.

"I wanted to!" He exclaimed, trying not to make his sister angry again, but then realizing that he was just getting himself in more hot water. "But...mom and dad...only wanted to play with _you_."

"And they..." Edith began, looking down at the floor with a strange expression. "...didn't want to play with you?"

"Uh..." Jack hesitated, attempting to find an escape route out of this conversation. After realizing that there wasn't any, he thought it would be easier to just get it over and done with. "No...they didn't."

"Why?" Edith asked, lifting her head. Jack expected to see her look upset, but her expression contained more curiosity than sadness.

"There's something I haven't told you about mom and dad, Edith." He stated sadly, looking down at the floor and closing his eyes. "They never wanted a son, they only wanted a daughter."

"But..." Edith mumbled, scrunching her face up. " _You_ were their son."

"Yep." Jack said, before looking up and making full eye contact with his sister. "They never wanted me. They only wanted you."

Edith looked visibly outraged after he said those words. Jack thought he had made a mistake, and that he had made Edith angry with him again, up until she continued talking.

"Why wouldn't they want you!?" She blurted. "Did you do something wrong?"

"No." Jack replied softly, before feeling the anger build up inside him, and speaking his next sentence with pure aggression. "I never did anything wrong!"

"Then why didn't they want you?" Edith asked harshly, as if she was interrogating her parents through Jack.

"I don't know..." Jack muttered angrily, as he began tensing up and clenching his fists. "They were just horrible people! They wanted to ruin someone else's entire life, all for their own pleasure!"

He turned away from his sister, before getting up and walking over to the window to look outside. The words began building in his mind, and he wanted to let them all out in the most aggressive way possible.

"I mean...they messed me up! They took away my _childhood_! They took away my _happiness_! They took away my _sanity_! They took it all from me, and berated me as they did so! The both of them were just cold-hearted sons of-"

He hesitated before he ended up swearing in front of three small girls. He closed his eyes and took a breath, before continuing with his mindless rant.

"It seemed like the second I was born, they just automatically assumed that I was a terrible person, all because I wasn't what they wanted! And since then, everyone else has done the same thing! The _SECOND_ anyone meets me, they just assume that I'm a bad person, and that I deserve nothing! They treat me like dirt, and use my bad upbringing against me! Maybe if _SOMEONE_ just gave me a chance, then-"

He stopped himself, as the memory of how Gru and his family had been treating him the past two days flashed in his eyes.

Jack had beaten up, knocked out and threatened to kill Gru, and yet he _STILL_ made him breakfast and dinner and treated him like a human.

His wife was making sure that he was comfortable in the house and, again, treated him like a human.

His youngest daughter concerned herself with his safety and seemed genuinely interested in his life and, yet again, treated him like a human.

His middle daughter (or as Jack knew her, the best little sister ever), had said so many nice things, and hugged him, and cried her eyes out for him, and told him that she loved him and...

...treated him like a human.

He turned around to face the Gru family, who were all staring back at him in shock and worry. Margo had instinctively shielded her younger sisters while Jack was getting aggressive, and he felt a little guilty for scaring them with his fierce rant.

Jack put his head down for a few seconds, before looking back up at everyone and smiling.

"But _YOU_ didn't..." He said joyfully, pointing his finger at the whole family. " _You_ didn't treat me like dirt. _You_ gave me a chance. Even, after all the things that I had done to you."

As he spoke the last sentence, his gaze was drawn to Gru, who was smiling back at him.

"Jack..." Gru started, as he got up from his seat on the sofa. "Yoo're Edith's brother. Yoo two basically look de same, talk de same, act de same..."

His gaze wandered off as he mentioned the last comparison. He locked it away for a second, before clearing his mind and continuing his serious talk with Jack.

"Treating yoo like dirt, would be like treating Edith like dirt. And I promised yoo dat I wouldn't treat her badly. She, along weeth de other two, changed my heart. As I told yoo, I gave up villainy for dem. Dey mean de world to me. And eef yoo mean sometheeng to Edith, den...

"...yoo mean sometheeng to me."

Jack felt his insides squirm, and any trace of anger that he had left melted away. His mouth broke into a large, warm smile before he turned his gaze out of the window and chuckled.

"Wow." He said, his voice going quite high as it became clouded in the emotion he was feeling. "I don't think I've ever meant anything to anyone before..."

That's when Edith came running into his leg with a hug. If Jack wasn't tall and strong, he would've definitely been knocked off of his feet.

"You do now..." She mumbled.

Jack almost fainted. He felt so many emotions hit him across the face all at once, and he could barely hold onto himself. He knelt down and returned Edith's hug, before Agnes came up to the side of them and joined in. Gru and Lucy watched on with a smile, before finding themselves join in as well.

As the silent hug prolonged, Jack looked back at the moment when the whole family were crying and hugging in the kitchen two nights ago. He remembered watching it from the doorway and feeling incredibly lonely and empty inside. He thought he would never be involved in a family hug, and that thought was crushing him from the inside...

But here he is, involved in a family hug!

Even though he only originally arrived to see his little sister again, the reason he returned was to see the whole family again. His brain wanted to be involved with them so much, that he subconsciously found himself back at their front door.

Jack never truly had a loving family, and so the need for one took over him when he found the opportunity to join one. When he was talking with them, he felt like an entirely different person. Before he arrived, he hadn't cried once in four years. Now, he had cried multiple different times in only two days!

He also never thought he could ever love anyone else but his sister, but he was now starting to develop feelings towards this whole family. It confused him, because they weren't blood related. So why did they suddenly mean so much to him, if there were no genetics involved?

Maybe...just like Gru had said...if they meant something to Edith, then they meant something to him.

Maybe blood relation doesn't matter. Maybe, all that matters, is if those people care for you.

It was starting to make sense why Edith referred to Margo and Agnes as _sisters_...

Everything felt perfect, and Jack never wanted it to end. There wasn't any word to describe the feeling he was experiencing. The only thing he did know, was that no-one was going to hurt any of them...

...and he will do whatever it takes to make sure they all remained safe.

That's when a large knock on the door snapped the family out of the hug. Jack looked up, and noticed that Margo hadn't been involved. She instead stood on the other side of the room with a saddened expression.

That realization only lasted for a split second however, as everyone made their way out of the living room and over to the front door to see who was outside.

They weren't expecting to see Dave the minion laying on the grass, looking as if he was clinging onto life. The whole family gasped in shock, before Gru and Jack ran up to the distressed creature.

"Dave!" Gru exclaimed, as the minion gave him a fatigued expression. "What happened!?"

"Poko yoki..." Dave mumbled, his gibberish sentences giving out due to his lack of energy. "Lopo mand snee Dru..."

"What's wrong weeth Dru!?" Gru shouted, shaking the poor thing in an attempt to keep him awake. "Come on Dave, stay weeth me here!"

"Gru, look!" Jack snapped, as he pointed to a picture that had been strapped to his side. Jack knelt down and took it off before inspecting it. "Oh no..."

"What!?" Gru blurted, the rest of the family now coming up behind them. The rain began to patter down, making the distressing scene more dramatic.

"It's a picture of my friend Darren and your twin brother..." Jack began, looking at the picture in disbelief, before shifting his fearful gaze to the whole family. "It looks like they've been kidnapped..."

Everyone gasped with fear, before Gru looked down and noticed something on the back of the picture.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, pointing at the picture in Jack's hand. "Dere's sometheeng written on de back!"

Jack turned the picture over quickly and inspected it. Sure enough, a note had been scribbled across the back of it. He stood up and read it out aloud.

 _Dear Gru family...or more importantly, the traitor Jack._

 _Your little friend (or Dru as he insists his name is), attempted to attack our headquarters with an army of little yellow things._

 _Due to his incompetence, we easily foiled his plan and kidnapped him. We have him secured within the abandoned garment factory downtown, and his voice is starting to get tiresome..._

 _We also kidnapped your friend Darren, so you better hurry. I'm sure you won't want to miss out on all the fun we're going to have..._

 _I am sure we will see you soon._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The IVB._

The whole family looked terrified as Jack read out the note. Gru shook his head in disbelief, before Agnes pulled on his arm.

"Is Uncle Dru gonna die daddy...?" She mumbled, as the tears came rolling out of her eyes. Before Gru could respond, Jack scrunched up the photo and clenched his fist in anger.

"Not on my watch he isn't..." He muttered ferociously, before turning to face Lucy. "Take this minion down to that doctor you have in the lab, and see if he can't fix him up. Me and Gru are gonna pay the factory a little visit..."

Lucy nodded and helped the minion up, who could barely walk. Edith and Agnes came running up to Jack and gave him a large hug.

"Don't go..." Edith whispered, clinging onto Jack's leg with all of her might. Jack tensed up, his mind screaming at him to stay and comfort the girls. But he knew he had no choice. He broke the hug and knelt down to make eye-contact with the two small girls.

"Don't worry." He said, nodding his head in reassurance. "I'm coming back..."

* * *

Jack and Gru arrived at the abandoned garment factory, and sprinted their way out of the tank. The factory was derelict and was surrounded by a barb-wired fence. Jack grabbed two grapple hooks from his gadget belt, that he had to reequip for this mission, and passed one over to Gru.

"Shoot up to that window over there." He said authoritatively, as he pointed over to a smashed up window on the second story. Gru looked up before giving Jack a questioning look.

"Why dat one?" He asked.

"It's the only one that's already been smashed open." Jack replied, as he took aim. "It means we can get in without making very much noise."

Gru nodded his head and pointed the grapple hook at the aforementioned window. He was actually very impressed with Jack's knowledge and experience, considering he was only seventeen years old.

Jack shot the grapple hook at the window, and jumped through and into the factory as it zipped over. Gru did the same, and the two were now standing in a huge, ugly room.

"Now where?" Gru asked, looking around the room for any trace of Dru.

"If I remember correctly..." Jack began, before walking towards the only doorway to leave. "The IVB would always put prisoners on the lowest floor, so we should probably look for a way to go down."

Gru nodded and walked on beside Jack towards the doorway. As they made their way out, they found themselves in a dark, gloomy hallway. The two could barely see anything, but could still get by with the shallow light from a single window.

"There." Jack whispered, as he pointed at a staircase that was going down at the end of the hallway. The two trudged slowly towards it, keeping their gaze down to watch where they were walking.

As they made it to the staircase and descended, they found themselves in another hallway. Gru wandered over to a nearby window and looked out of it.

"Looks like we're on de ground floor." He spoke, trying to keep his voice as low as possible, but loud enough for Jack to hear him. "Do yoo theenk dere ees an underground basement or sometheeng?"

"Possibly." Jack said, as he strolled over to the nearest doorway and peeked inside. It was just another large, empty room.

"Garment factories don't need basements dough do dey?" Gru pondered, as he walked up to stand beside Jack.

"No..." Jack spoke, looking away in thought. "But the IVB could've constructed a basement as a place of operations. They usually like to take over abandoned buildings and use them as small safe-house locations, and then add their own extensions to them."

"Well eet doesn't look like dey're using dese floors for much." Gru said, as he motioned his hand toward another empty room. "So dey must have a basement."

"We best get searching then." Jack replied, as he continued to make his way down the hallway.

After inspecting another four rooms, that were all completely empty, there was only more room left to search, and Jack wasn't very hopeful. The two of them peeked their heads through the doorway, where they saw a lever placed on the floor, with a huge sign that read 'Pull Me'.

"Well, dis looks safe..." Gru muttered sarcastically, as the two took a single weary step inside the room.

"It's our only option at this point." Jack replied, looking around the room for any signs of traps. "Every other room is empty..."

Gru sighed heavily before speaking.

"Let's just get dis over weeth." He mumbled, as the duo made their way over to the lever. Gru grabbed it with one hand and pulled, but it wouldn't budge. He then grabbed it with both hands and pulled, but again, it wouldn't budge.

"Maybe eet's a fake." Gru said, as he let go and frowned at it. Jack gave him a skeptical look, before grabbing it with one hand and pulling it down with one swift movement. The lever activated and the floor opened up to reveal a metal staircase leading down.

Jack turned to Gru with a smirk.

"Yep...looks like a fake to me." He said jokingly. Gru crossed his arms and turned away from him.

"Yeah, yeah." He said with exasperation. "I loosened eet for yoo."

Jack chuckled before looking down the staircase. It didn't go down very far, and at the end of it was a single door, that Jack prayed was unlocked.

The two began descending down until they were standing right in front of the door, before pulling on the handle. Jack internally sighed with relief as it opened up to reveal a very small room, with a wide glass window opposite them. Outside the window was nothing but darkness. Beneath the window was a small panel, that had two buttons upon it. They were labelled, but the two couldn't make out what they read as it was too dark.

That's when two lights clicked on behind the window, to reveal a huge room on the other side. Inside was Dru and Darren, who were trapped inside metal chairs and looked at both Jack and Gru with distressed expressions.

"DRU!" Gru exclaimed, as he ran up to the window.

"DARREN!" Jack exclaimed, as he did the same.

"JACK!" Darren replied, looking beyond afraid. "What's going on!?"

"That's what I was gonna ask you!" Jack responded, looking Darren up and down. It didn't look he had been beaten up or anything, which was a positive.

"GRU!" Dru shouted, giving him a deadly serious look. "De IVB have keednapped us!"

"Yeah...I can see dat." Gru replied sarcastically, however maintaining his worried expression.

"Good afternoon gentlemen." A deep voice boomed. Everyone looked around to try and find the source of the sound, before spying two speakers in both rooms. "So nice of you two to join us."

"LET US GO!" Darren screamed, squirming in his seat, but knowing there was no way he was escaping.

"Could you please remain quiet." The voice instructed softly.

"NO! We can't!" Jack replied, after realizing that whoever was on the other side of the speaker could hear them. "Let the both of them go now, or things are gonna get difficult for you!"

"Both of them!?" The voice replied, now getting aggressive. "You just want everything don't you Jack! Well sometimes in life, things won't go your way. It would've been good if you knew that before betraying us!"

"What the hell are you on about!?" Jack shouted back. He wanted to punch the speakers, but they were a little too high to reach.

"Please look down at the panel, would you kindly." The voice spoke, bringing the softness back into his voice. Jack and Gru did just that. The light from the large room now allowed them to read the labels.

One read 'Darren'.

The other read 'Dru'.

"It's up to you two." The voice continued, grasping Jack and Gru's attention again. "You can either free Darren, or free Dru. But please note, that whoever isn't freed, _get's killed_!"

Jack and Gru widened their eyes before looking at each other in disbelief. This couldn't be happening...

"Gru, NO!" Dru exclaimed, giving him a pleading look. "I know I'm a villain and everytheeng...but I'm steel your family! Imagine what de gurls would say eef dey found out I was dead!"

"Jack, PLEASE!" Darren shouted. "You've known me for fourteen years! Surely you won't kill me just to save the life of someone you don't even know. I'm your best friend bro!"

Jack and Gru both looked at the buttons and felt their hearts beat harder and harder as time went on. They took a deep breath before looking at each other.

"Yoo know who yoo wanna free?" Gru asked, breathing heavily as he did so.

"Yep." Jack replied solemnly. "You?"

"Yeah..." Gru muttered, before looking down to the floor and gulping. "Should we say on three?"

"Good idea." Jack mumbled, looking down to the ground.

"One..." Gru muttered.

"Two..." Jack muttered.

"Three..." They said in unison, before Jack lunged forward and slammed his palm down on one of the buttons.

Gru stared in horror as he did so, before the dread hit him...

...which button did he press?

* * *

 _You are gonna hate me for this but...there's the end of Chapter Eight!_

 _I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help but leave it on that kind of cliffhanger._

 _Chapter Nine will be released ASAP._

 _Please review! See you soon!_


	9. Deserves to Die

**Chapter Nine -  
 _Deserves to Die_**

"One..." Gru muttered.

"Two..." Jack muttered.

"Three..." They said in unison, before Jack lunged forward and slammed his palm down on one of the buttons.

Gru stared in horror as he did so, before the dread hit him...

...which button did he press?

He closed his eyes and gulped hard. Jack almost definitely picked that Darren guy. Why would he pick his brother? He had no reason to. When the time comes to open his eyes and see who Jack had freed, Gru was almost certain what the outcome was going to be.

Dru was going to die. His family was going to tear apart. The girls were going to be traumatized.

His mind ran off into a million different directions and thoughts, all of which were bad. The little bit of hope that Gru had left took over him, and forced him to open his eyes. He reluctantly looked out of the window and into the large room. His eyes widened and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. A smile broke across his face, and the shocked happiness almost knocked him to the floor.

Jack had freed Dru.

He shifted his gaze to Jack, who was looking out of the window profusely, watching as Dru emerged from his chair in admiration and shock. He then slowly turned his head to face Gru, giving him a deadly serious expression as their gazes met.

"I promised Agnes that Dru wasn't gonna die on my watch!" He stated, before giving him a small smile. Gru shook his head in disbelief and looked at the young boy with a bewildered expression.

"But why?" Gru muttered, glancing over to Dru, who was dusting himself off with a giddy smile. "Yoo've only met heem once."

"You said it yourself Gru..." Jack replied, standing up straight. "If he means something to Edith, then he means something to me."

The two warmly smiled at each other, before Darren screamed in shock and fear, pulling Jack back into the harsh reality of the situation.

"WH...WHY...YOU...BUT..." He stuttered, looking at Jack with betrayal evident in both his expression and voice. "YOU FREED THE GUY YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!?"

"I'm sorry Darren..." Jack mumbled sadly, not making eye-contact with his best friend. It hurt to hear his screams of betrayal, but he had to keep up his facade...

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" Darren shouted, his face becoming red in anger and tears beginning to roll from his eyes. "YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND! DID THOSE FOURTEEN YEARS MEAN NOTHING TO YOU!?"

Jack still didn't look at him. He kept his head down in a fake sense of shame, wanting to tell Darren the truth.

"Very well." The voice over the speaker said, seeming a little shocked as well that Jack had freed Dru. "You have chosen to free Dru. But that doesn't mean he gets to come with you..."

"What!?" Gru exclaimed, staring up at the speaker fiercely. Jack didn't move an inch, keeping his head down and waiting for the right moment. Dru looked up at the speakers in worry, before darting over to the only door in the large room and pulling it with all his might. It wouldn't budge...

"Did you really think we were just going to let this man, who attacked our headquarters, walk out of this building scot-free?" The voice replied maniacally, before scoffing and continuing. "You AVL morons really are deluded..."

Gru began shaking with anger. He shifted his gaze around both rooms, trying to figure out a way to get Dru out safely. Jack on the other hand, still hadn't moved an inch. His head was still down, and by the look of his expression, he was listening hard.

"Now to deal with you two..." The voice continued, before chucking evilly. Jack's head perked up slightly, as if the something he had been listening for had arrived, before he slowly moved his hand down to his gadget belt. "This was a lot of fun, and I wish we could do it again. But unfortunately, this is goodbye."

Jack then swiftly aimed his tranquilizer dart at the staircase doorway, and shot it just as the man in the grey suit jumped from the left and shot him with his handgun. The tranquilizer dart lodged into the man's neck, sending him to sleep instantly. Jack managed to just avoid the bullet, as it flew past his head and hit the window, smashing it into pieces.

"What...how did...?" The voice on the speaker said in shock.

"IVB tactics never change." Jack said, realizing that the person behind the speaker could also see them, and giving them an evil smirk.

Jack leaped through the smashed window, before gesturing his head quickly at Dru. He understood the signal and carefully made his way out of the room, trying hard not to get injured by the sharp shards of glass. Jack got over to Darren and gave him a huge grin.

"You seriously thought I was gonna let you die?" He said, as Darren returned his smile out of both relief and happiness. "You're my best friend, bro!"

Jack began yanking on the metal hold that was trapping Darren in place. Since it must've been soldered onto the chair, it wouldn't budge, not even when it was pulled with all of Jack's massive strength.

"Come on!" Jack screamed, as he tried his hardest to pull the hold off. After thirty seconds of pulling, Jack was exhausted, and it still hadn't moved an inch.

"You can get this off right?" Darren pleaded, his expression looking deadly afraid. Jack didn't respond, as he was too frightened to piece together the words of the awful answer to that question. As Dru finally got through the smashed window, and stood up straight beside Gru, the man in the black suit appeared at the staircase doorway, holding a small device with a timer attached to it.

"And suddenly..." He started, shooting the occupants of the room an evil smirk. "IVB tactics change!"

He swiftly stuck the device to the wall inside the room, before pushing a button placed upon it and slamming the door closed, locking it behind him.

"NO!" Jack yelled, before leaping back through the window and running up to the device. As he suspected, it was a timed bomb, and it had been set to explode.

Three minutes remaining.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA _DOOOO_!?" Dru yelped, prancing around in a circle in complete worry. Jack began to panic as he inspected the locked door that lead to the staircase. It was made of steel, so there was no way he could kick it down. They were trapped, without a way out...

Gru looked around the room, before his eyes landed on his prancing brother. He narrowed his eyes as he recognized the clothes he was wearing.

"DRU!" Gru yelled, grabbing his brother and holding him still. It was difficult, since the unexpected grab added to his hysteria. "Yoo're steel wearing dad's villain suit!"

Dru looked down at his costume for a second, acknowledging that he was in fact still wearing the suit after the attack on the headquarters, before looking back at his brother in confusion.

"And?" He yelled.

"Yoo can cut through metal, remember!" Gru shouted, shaking his brother as he did so. Dru looked back to when he used his finger to cut into the huge Bratt robot, before his expression beamed in delight. He ran up to the door and used his finger to create a huge hole in it. As the chunk of metal fell away, Dru put his hands upon his hips and admired his work.

"Nice thinking Gru!" Jack yelled, nodding his head at him before darting his gaze to the bomb on the wall.

Two minutes and thirty seconds remaining.

He sighed heavily, before turning around and leaping back through the smashed window. He ran up to Darren and desperately scanned the holds for an answer.

"Dru!" He yelped, turning around to look through the window again. "Come cut through these metal holds!"

Dru gave him a nod before carefully attempting to make his way through the window again. Jack rolled his eyes in exasperation, before running over and forcefully pulling Dru into the room. As he yanked him in, Dru fell to the ground in a heap before getting up and running over to Darren. He cut the holds in half, making them fall to the ground. He did the same with his other arm and his legs, freeing him from the chair.

"Thanks, man." Darren said, with a smile of relief drawing across his face. "I thought I was a goner..."

"Let's just get out of here!" Jack exclaimed, as he peered over to the ticking bomb on the wall.

Two minutes remaining.

"WAIT!" Dru yelled, pulling everyone's attention away from the escape hole. "What about de minions!?"

"What about dem?" Gru replied, using his hands to convey his confusion.

"Dey got keednapped as well when I attacked de headquarters!" He replied, bouncing up and down with fear. "We can't let dem all die!"

Jack looked up to the ceiling in desperation. If Gru was right when he told him he had thousands of minions, then there was no way they were getting them all out in time. To be successful, they would need to find the minions, get them all through the smashed window safely, through the hole in the metal door, up the staircase, down the hallway, find the exit door and escape, all within two minutes. Simply impossible.

"What are the mini-" Darren began, before being cut off.

"Dere's no time to explain!" Gru yelled, giving the teenager an intimidating stare, before turning back to his brother. "Where are dey being held?"

"I dunno." Dru said, as he began panting in concern. "Somewhere een dis building, I hope."

"Well what the hell are we waiting for!?" Jack blurted quickly and aggressively, before running up to the door in the large room and attempting to pull it open. When he remembered it was locked, he growled and furiously kicked on it. Thankfully, this door was wooden so it fell off it's hinges and down to the ground. He ran through the empty door frame, before Gru and Dru followed behind. They emerged into a short hallway, with two doors on both the left and right. Darren stared at the trio, before the desperation in his mind forced him towards the escape route.

"Everyone to an eendividual room!" Gru instructed, before looking through the nearest doorway. It contained a desk with a computer monitor and a microphone. The monitor displayed a live picture of the two rooms that the four of them were just in. On it, he could see Darren desperately trying to climb through the smashed window.

Dru looked into the room on the right. It was another staircase that lead back up into the garment factory's ground floor. This must've been how the two men got around to the other doorway. Dru looked up and spied another door at the top, that lead outside. It was a much quicker escape route...

Jack looked into the first door at the far end of the hallway. It contained nothing but a huge whiteboard, that had all of the two men's plans written on it. Jack's eyes widened as he read the words, 'kill the family while Jack is out.'

Was this referring to when Fierce attempted to kill Edith, or...

...was it referring to killing them now?

Jack shook away his thoughts and snapped back into the critical situation. He turned away, before looking into the final room. This door was locked, but that wasn't gonna keep Jack out. It was another wooden door, so Jack used another powerful kick to send it crashing to the ground. He looked around the huge room in front of him, and saw a thousand minions looking back at him, wide-eyed and scared beyond standard fear. The room was so huge, that it had enough space to house them all. He sighed with relief, before using his arm to instruct them to follow him.

"Come on guys!" He yelled. "Let's get you outta here!"

The minion hoarde cheered magnificantly, before they followed Jack out of the room.

"Quickly!" Dru yelped, ushering Gru, Jack and the minion army up the stairway that he found. "Dis way!"

Gru, Jack, Dru and the massive amount of minions charged up the staircase and thundered out of the exit door. The minions were very fast, and by the time that the trio had made it out of the door, there were only around fifty minions behind them. As they made it out to the barbed wire fence, Dru used his laser fingertips to cut through it and out onto the street. Everyone piled through the opening, scampering all over each other as they tried to escape as fast as they could. Jack turned to face the factory, as the last minion leaped through the hole in the fence. He scanned the exterior for any sign of Darren, but he was nowhere to be seen. He looked down at his watch, and began to panic.

"Is Darren still in there?" He exclaimed, keeping his gaze locked on the exit.

"I'm not sure." Gru replied, shrugging. "He went de other way. Do yoo theenk he knows de way out?"

"I hope so..." Jack mumbled in unease. He began to tremble as Darren had still not appeared at the exit door. He didn't know exactly how much time was left, but he did know that the bomb was surely about to go off any second.

Finally, Darren appeared at the doorway of the building, looking both exasperated and shocked. He looked around for a second to try and find his way out, before spying the hole in the fence.

"DARREN!" Jack yelled, waving his hand high to point himself out to him. "COME ON! QUICKL-"

Before Jack could finish, the bomb exploded and the abondened factory collapsed within itself. The explosion was enough to knock a few of the minions off their feet, but the blast radius wasn't big enough to harm the trio and the army of little yellow creatures.

Unfortunately, it was big enough to harm Darren...

"NOOOOO!" Jack screamed, as the bricks and concrete shattered down to the ground. "DARRENNNN!"

Jack sprinted forward, before Gru attempted to grab him and stop him from getting close. However, Jack was completely hysterical, and he pushed Gru off with all of his force, sending him to the ground. He raced up to the fence and stared deep into the rubble. He couldn't see a trace of Darren, but he could see that the spot where he was standing was now a huge explosion crater, with flames rising up from within it.

There was no way he survived...

Jack fell to his knees and held his head in his hands. He sobbed and felt the tears run through his fingers.

His best friend was dead. The only person who Jack ever connected with was gone. The only person who he would talk to to get his mind away from his awful life was gone. The only person who ever spoke to him or gave a damn about him was gone.

That's when Gru came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Jack..." He said sadly.

"Me too." Dru murmured, as he came up to stand alongside Gru.

"Mopo tree." A minion mumbled, as he shuffled his way beside Jack and touched his arm. That's when Jack realized.

He was being stupid...

He now had a lot of people who he could talk to. He now had a lot of people who gave a damn about him. He now had a lot of people who he connected with.

There was no need to get his mind away from his awful life anymore...

...because it wasn't awful anymore.

He lifted his head out of his hands, and stared at the rubble again for a few seconds. After gathering his thoughts, he stood up, and looked around at Gru, Dru and the minion. He smiled at them weakly, as the tears continued to stream down his face.

That's when a dreadful realization clicked in his head.

The man in the grey suit was now dead, as he had been left unconscious in the building that just exploded. But the man in the black suit must've escaped. He thought back to the words that were written on the white board. His smile dropped and he gave Gru a serious stare.

"We need to head back _NOW_!" He exclaimed, before pacing forward towards the tank and indicating for Gru and Dru to follow him.

"What?" Gru pondered, as he ran up to pace alongside Jack. "Why?"

"I think the girls and Lucy are in trouble." Jack replied, keeping his gaze directed at the tank. The speed of his desperate jog was increasing as time went on.

"How do yoo know?" Dru asked, who had also managed to catch up with the pair.

"Because..." Jack began, looking down at the ground, but still pacing towards Gru's vehicle.

"IVB tactics never change."

* * *

Edith and Agnes were sitting on the crocodile sofa, attempting to watch TV. They weren't exactly sure what the show was about, because they couldn't concentrate on the screen. They were just too worried.

Margo was sitting alongside her sisters, with her head buried in a book. She was worried, but she was becoming accustomed to dealing with it. Occasionally, she would remember what was going on, and her heart would skip a beat. But mostly, she was engulfed within the world that the book was portraying to her.

Lucy had been staring out of the window for a whole hour now. Her worries had completely clouded both her judgement and consciousness. She watched the road in front of the house, desperately hoping that Gru and Jack would return, both uninjured and with Dru alongside them.

Then, a small noise could be heard from just outside the window. Lucy lifted her head up and stared profusely at every inch of the garden, hoping to see the faces of her missing family members.

After a few seconds, the same sound could be heard again, and Lucy deduced it to be a footstep. It was quiet, and if Lucy was just a little further away from the window, she probably wouldn't have heard it.

It happened again, and Lucy was now both afraid and curious. She narrowed her eyes, and took a small step away from the window. Margo sensed her mother's first movement in one hour, and looked up from her book to question it.

"Are you okay mom?" She asked, attracting the attention of her sisters as well. Lucy didn't look away from the window, attempting to pick out a piece of movement or another small step sound. The sound happened again, only louder this time. Lucy tensed slightly, and attempted to figure out it's source. Her eyes widened and she gasped as the shadow of a man she'd never met before appeared on the ground outside.

Suddenly, the window smashed to pieces, and Lucy leaped to the left to dodge the figure that jumped through. The girls screamed and jumped from the sofa as the person landed on the ground, similarly to how Fierce did. He looked up and gave the girls a menacing smile, before standing up straight.

The girls inspected him with wide, fearful eyes. He wore a black suit and dark shades. Even though she was terrified, Edith couldn't help but admire how cool he looked.

The man in black didn't bother with conversation, and ran at them with speed. Margo threw herself in front of her younger sisters, hoping that she could absorb the damage, and the two girls would feel as little pain as possible. They closed their eyes and braced themselves for the impact.

Just before he leaped into them, Lucy ran from the side and charged into the man in black, sending them both crashing to the ground. The girls saw their chance to escape, and sprinted towards the living room doorway.

As they made it out into the downstairs hall, the girls turned towards the front door. Before they could run out of it, Lucy was sent flying through the air, out of the living room door and down to the opposite end of the hallway.

"MOM!" Margo screamed, before running up to her as she lay on the ground. Edith and Agnes scampered along with her, trying to stay beside their big sister. "Are you okay!?"

Lucy looked up at her daughters weakly, before quickly jumping to her feet. She jogged in front to shield them as the man in black emerged from the living room doorway, giving the four females an evil grin. He was now standing between them and the front door, making that escape route an impossibility.

"RUN!" Lucy yelped, before ushering her daughters down the hallway towards the kitchen. The man in black frowned before racing ahead and attempting to keep up with them. As they made it to the kitchen doorway, the girls sprinted in to stand in front of the counter. Before she could make her way through to join them, the man in black charged into Lucy, sending her crashing further down the hallway.

The man in black looked over to the three girls from the kitchen entrance, and smiled evilly again. Before he could say anything, Lucy came from behind and slammed him into the kitchen counter. Lucy jogged to shield her daughters again, just as the man got back to his feet.

"Get behind the counter!" Lucy yelled, glancing slightly towards the girls. They complied quickly, and ran to the side to stand beside the fridge. Lucy turned to face her opponent and sent him a threatening glare.

The man in black returned an angry frown, as he narrowed his eyes behind his shades. He began analyzing the redhead in front of him. From what he remembered after creating the profiles for his boss, she was a strong but not very smart fighter.

 _'This is gonna be easy.'_ The man thought to himself, as he opened his arms as if to say 'you get the first punch'. Lucy accepted the invite and threw a right hook at him. The man in black grabbed the punch easily, and then used his free hand to grab the woman's neck. He threw her forward, sending her crashing into the far wall and down to the floor in a heap. Lucy tried to get back onto her feet, but her back was in too much pain. She helplessly stared at the man, as he turned to face the three girls with his malicious intentions.

"No..." She mumbled feebly as she winced in agony. "Please..."

The man glanced at the woman as she muttered in pain and gave her a fearfully villainous smile.

"Too easy..." He said sternly, shaking his head mockingly. He then turned to face the three young girls, who were hugging each other and trembling as they did so. He took a dangerous step towards them before continuing. "Killing you will be just as fun as killing your father, brother and uncle...which was pretty damn fun! I only wish I could've heard their screams when they exploded with the factory!"

He nodded his head proudly, happy that he got to see their horribly shocked and deeply saddened expressions as he said those words. The girls looked around to one another, as they began to well up and tremble more fearfully.

"I love you..." Margo mumbled to her younger sisters, the tears beginning to drop from her eyes.

"Me too." Agnes replied, as she grabbed onto her older sister's leg.

"Me three." Edith murmured, as she did the same, also putting an arm around Agnes in the process.

"Anyway..." The man continued, taking another dangerous step towards them. "Tell Jack I said 'hi' when you see him in hell."

"You can tell me 'hi' now..." A voice from somewhere said deeply. Just as the man in black glanced to his right, Jack jumped from in front of the counter and trapped the man in a strong headlock.

The man in black retaliated by kicking his knee, making Jack wince and lose grasp of him. The man sent a hard punch at Jack's face, but he was too quick and dodged it swiftly. Jack thundered a strong uppercut, sending the man high into the air and slamming his head into the ceiling. As gravity sent him back down, Jack perfectly timed a very strong left hook, making contact with the man's nose and breaking it instantly. The man slumped to the ground, and looked up at Jack in defeat.

"How did you..." He whispered meekly.

"I don't even wanna hear your voice." Jack interrupted quickly, lifting his hand to silence him and then motioning his head to someone outside the kitchen.

"So what...you're gonna kill me." The man in black replied, his eyes drifting open and closed slowly, as if he was clinging onto consciousness. Jack looked down at the man, smiled in victory and chuckled to himself.

"Only bad guys kill people..." He muttered.

Suddenly, a light blue beam came flying into the kitchen, making contact with the man in black and trapping him in a block of ice. Gru and Dru then came strolling into the kitchen, the former holding his trademark freeze ray. Jack turned around to the three girls and began inspecting them for a few seconds, checking for any sign of injury. When he saw that they were perfectly fine, he beamed at them and talked valiantly.

"I told you I was coming back!" He yelled, as Edith and Agnes threw themselves at the seventeen year old. Margo watched her sisters jump into the hug, and felt a little guilty for not joining in. But she just couldn't. She still didn't trust this man after seeing what he did. However, that didn't mean she wasn't thankful towards him for him saving her life.

"Uh...thanks." She mumbled, keeping her head down in attempt to avoid eye-contact with the boy. Jack looked up at her, before smiling and nodding his head.

"It's cool." He muttered, before wrapping his arms around the two younger girls who were holding onto his leg. "What would I do without you, huh?"

"Lucy!" Gru yelled, as he ran across the kitchen to kneel beside his distressed spouse. "Are yoo okay? Are yoo hurteeng?"

"A little." She mumbled quietly, as she attempted to sit up against the wall, but was obstructed by the pain covering her whole body. The whole family were now surrounding Lucy, and looking down at her in concern. She noticed everyone approach her with evident worry in their stride, before looking up at them and giving them a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'll be fine..."

"Are you sure?" Margo asked, scrunching her face in doubt. Lucy didn't want to waste anymore energy by talking, so she slowly nodded her head as a response. This only added to Margo's doubt...

"Let's get yoo up." Gru stated, before kneeling down and helping his wife to her feet. She could barely walk, and Gru practically had to carry her to the kitchen table to sit down.

"Dey're gonna pay for dis!" Dru yelled, as he clenched his fists and turned a shade of red in anger. He turned to face the block of ice and pointed a judgmental finger at it. " _Yoo're_ gonna pay for dis!"

"How do the AVL dispose of scumbags like him, then?" Jack asked, a little frustrated he couldn't just kill the agent right there.

"Prison." Lucy murmured, wincing slightly as she spoke. "The AVL prison."

"The AVL have a prison?" Jack asked with surprise, turning to face Gru as if he was asking for clarification.

"Yep." Gru replied, nodding his head and giving his wife a worried glance every few seconds. "I've never seen eet myself, but I know eet's dere."

"What's the difference between the AVL prison and a regular prison, then?" Jack questioned, wanting to know if there was any chance of the man escaping.

"I'm not sure." Gru replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Again, I've never been to veeseet eet, so I really don't have a clue."

"Well, whatever." Jack replied, looking over to the ice block. "Let's just dump this trash off there, and end this saga once and for all!"

"Now?" Gru said, giving him a skeptical expression.

"Yes now!" Jack snapped, giving Gru a fiery stare. "I've had enough of these IVB agents, messing around with _ME_ and _MY FAMILY_. I just want to finish them off, and get back to my normal life!"

"With us?" Edith questioned quickly, making Margo shoot her a fearful expression. Jack looked down at his little sister and frowned awkwardly, tensing up a little as he did so. Of course, he wanted to be with them. But did they want to be with him?

"I dunno." He spoke solemnly, before looking over to Gru and Lucy. "I don't wanna be an inconvenience..."

"Pfft...are you serious?" Lucy asked, seeming to gain temporary energy as she developed a small smile. Jack looked at her in confusion, before Gru piped up by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yoo said eet yourself Jack..." He started, before beaming hugely and dipping his head slightly. "We're yoo're family. Yoo're one of us now."

The breath in Jack's lungs came thundering out as he smiled and put his head down. After a second of silence, he looked back at Gru and warmly grinned.

"Thank you." He said, before looking around at the rest of his... _family_. Edith and Agnes were jumping around a little in glee, Lucy and Dru were watching the two with a beaming smile on their face and Margo had her head down, looking deep in thought. He still couldn't believe that these people were his family and was still confused to why they welcomed him into their homes so quickly. He didn't feel like he deserved it. As Gru took his hand away from his shoulder and back down to his side, Jack glanced at Margo for a second time before speaking.

"And you're all sure you want me?" He asked, shifting his gaze between everyone awkwardly again.

"How many times do we have to say it!?" Edith blurted, but still keeping that gleeful smile she had been displaying ever since Jack had saved them. "YES! Now shut up..."

"Okay, okay." Jack replied quickly with a chuckle, putting his hands up as if he were surrendering. Gru's warm smile quickly faded however, when he remembered the situation at hand.

"But back to de IVB..." He began, darting his gaze quickly to bring Jack back into the reality of the situation. "We can't do dis tonight."

"Why?" Jack said with frustration. Gru gestured towards his wife, who was looking back at Jack and Gru with half-open eyes.

"Lucy ees een no state for eet." He said, looking down at her and frowning with empathy, before looking back at Jack and answering the question he knew he was thinking. "And we can't do eet weethout her!"

"I wasn't gonna say that." Jack replied, shaking his head in disagreement. "I know we need her. But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck..."

Gru couldn't help but smile at the former IVB agent. He still loved it when he spoke like Edith, as it reminded him of the relation he had with the family. It's probably a good thing that Jack was on their side, because if he continued with the IVB training, he could've ended up becoming one of the most devastating villains the world had ever seen. The strength and cunning he possessed was rare to find, and he was happy knowing that all of that strength and cunning was going to be used to protect his family. Before he got too lost in his thoughts, Gru shook his head and replied to him.

"Let's just take dis block of ice to de AVL prison..." He informed, glancing at the frozen agent on the kitchen floor, before looking down at his digital watch and continuing. "Then have some deener, go to bed and take down de IVB tomorrow!"

A few loud shrieks could be heard from the kitchen door, which startled the family as they quickly darted their gazes towards the source of the sound. Around ten minions had gathered around the entrance to the kitchen, and were jumping up and down in excitement. Gru figured that they were either excited because of the IVB attack...

...or because he mentioned dinner.

* * *

"Identification please." The guard exclaimed harshly, holding out his hand to indicate what he wanted.

"Oh." Gru replied, before shuffling into his pocket, pulling out a small card and handing it to the guard. "Dere we go."

"Mm-hmm." The guard murmured quietly, nodding his head while he inspected the details. "This all seems in order. You may enter."

The guard used the key-card that was hung around his neck to open up the large door that loomed over the three men inside the AVL headquarters. Gru and Jack strolled into the long, yet thin, hallway that was behind it. Jack was pulling the ice block along behind him, that had been placed upon wheels. The two walked past dozens of prison cells, as the prisoners inside stared at them threateningly. Gru didn't make eye-contact with them, while Jack returned the threatening glare to one of them.

"What are you looking at!?" He barked aggressively, causing the prisoner to flinch back from the bars.

"Jack!" Gru snapped, shouting at him as he would do to Edith.

"What?" Jack replied sharply, giving another one of the prisoners a strong glare. "These guys think they're so strong. I'd love to see what would happen if they started on me."

"Hey, baldy!" One of the prisoners yelled, electing Gru and Jack's attention. "T'ink you need an haircut!"

Around fourty of the prisoners laughed at the mocking insult, making Gru put his head down sheepishly. Jack frowned angrily before strutting up and punching the prisoner through the bars, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Well, I think you're gonna need a new nose!" Jack thundered, before glaring at a few other prisoners. "Anyone else want one of _them_!?"

All of the other prisoners fearfully disappeared into their poorly lit cells, a few of them mumbling an insult under their breath. Jack turned and spotted one of the guards nodding his head, seeming impressed with his intimidation skills. He ignored him and continued walking down the prison hallway, towards a glass door at the end of it.

After getting to the end and going through the door, the two found themselves in a massive room. TV screens littered the walls, each displaying a live picture of a different prison cell. In the center of the room was a big desk, that housed a man in a suit who was looking down at a clipboard. The two began walking towards the desk, Jack looking up at all of the screens as they did so.

"Woah..." He gawked, his mouth slightly agape with amazement. "Cool!"

"What?" Gru pondered sarcastically. "Eet's just a few hundred TV screens. What's so cool about dat?"

"What isn't cool about that?" Jack replied, still looking around at the TV screens, before scrunching his face in confusion as he came to a realization. "Wait...you can see the toilets on them."

"Yeah..." Gru muttered. "Prison cells have toilets. Yoo of all people should know dat."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Jack replied sharply, rolling his eyes. "But...what about when they need to use it?"

"Oh..." Gru said, now understanding what he meant. He began to feel sorry for the man who worked behind the desk, knowing the kind of imagery he must've seen on those screens. "Okay, dat's a leetle weird..."

The two of them made it to the middle of the room. The man behind the desk didn't acknowledge their presence, up until Gru cleared his throat. He looked up and his eyes widened when he saw the infamous AVL agent.

"Agent Gru!?" He exclaimed, blinking a few times as he looked up at him in awe.

"Dat's me." Gru replied, shooting him a perplexed look. The man looked him up and down for a few seconds, before standing up and grabbing his hand in a wild handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" He said happily. "I really admire your work. The whole business with the moon, and El Macho, and Balthazar Bratt! How could the AVL even consider firing you!? I mean, you are _SO_ good at your job!"

"Yesss..." Gru said awkwardly, prying his hand out of his grasp. He could swear this man was hitting on him. He could hear Jack snickering behind him, and did his best to ignore him. "We have a prisoner we'd like to...enroll...for lack of a better word."

The man chuckled before peeking his head over to get a better view of the ice block. He shook his head and beamed with admiration.

"Is there any villain that could beat you?" He asked, making the question sound rhetorical.

"Yeah." Jack said mockingly, thinking back to how easily he managed to kidnap Gru. "There is..."

The man shot him a vicious look, and Jack furrowed his brow, chuckling to himself that this man actually considered trying to intimidate him. He turned to face Gru again, as his beaming smile returned.

"Yep, that shouldn't be a problem." He said. Gru smiled at the confirmation. "I'll get someone to take him off your hands."

He turned and waved at a guard on the other side of the huge room. The guard ushered himself over and grabbed the handle that Jack was using to pull the ice block. He pulled him away through a set of double doors, just as another AVL agent came strolling up to the desk.

"Have they decided what they're doing with prisoner 59 yet?" He asked, giving the man behind the desk an eager look.

"Yeah." He stated simply, before lowering his head and sending the agent a smile. "It's what you requested."

"Good, good." The agent replied with glee, before walking away towards those same set of double doors. Gru and Jack narrowed their eyes at the agent before turning to face the man.

"I don't want to pry or anytheeng..." Gru started. "But what deed he request?"

"Oh." The man replied, returning his attention to the former villain. "Electric chair, I believe."

"Electreec chair!?" Gru exclaimed, his mouth dropping open.

"But isn't that kinda...fatal." Jack said, giving the man an inquisitive look.

"Yeahhh..." The man replied in confusion. "It's the easiest way to rid the earth of these scumbags."

"What!?" Gru shouted, looking slightly dazzled. "But I thought only bad guys killed people!"

"Bad guys kill _innocent_ people." The man began. "But some people deserve to die."

Jack put his head down and couldn't help but smirk slightly. He completely agreed with this man's terminology, as he thought back to the people in his life who did deserve to die. That Fierce guy, his parents...

...Darren wasn't on the list though.

"Thees ees unacceptable!" Gru thundered, his face turning red. The man behind the desk jerked backwards and back down onto his seat, as he stared at the AVL agent in fear.

"Gru. Calm down." Jack stated, looking around embarrassingly at a few other agents who were watching the commotion.

"No, I won't calm down!" Gru blasted, not taking his gaze away from the man. "No-one deserves to die! No villain! No prisoner! Nobody! I won't be part of an organisation dat believes een de opposeet!"

"Well, no-one is forcing you to work here Agent Gru!" A voice snapped from behind them. Gru and Jack turned around to see Valerie Da Vinci, the director of the AVL, looking at them fiercely. "People who do enough bad things, deserve to die! That is the protocol we follow! Don't like it! WALK!"

"Yoo got eet!" Gru snapped back, as he threw his AVL badge down and thundered his way back towards the exit. Jack's lips parted in shock as he watched the outburst, before he looked up at the woman and grimaced.

"Jeez." He muttered under his breath, as he looked at her disgusting features. Before she could respond, Jack jogged forward to catch up with Gru.

"Gru! What the hell are you doing!?" He asked, as he paced alongside him.

"What do yoo theenk!?" Gru blurted, as they got back to the glass door and back to the prison hallway.

"Wha...you're seriously gonna leave the AVL!?" Jack shouted, giving him an amazed look.

"Yep." Gru replied, as he clenched his fists slightly. "I'm a lone agent from now on!"

* * *

 _Chapter Ten will be up in the next 3-5 days! Please review! PLEASE! I really love writing after reading a review._


	10. A New Jack

_Wow...Chapter Ten. We've hit the double-digits._

 _Honestly never meant for this story to get so long, considering that each chapter is on average 5,965 words long (I did the math). But I'm really happy I made it this long now, as I'm enjoying it too much._

 _Enough of me yammering on, it's time to continue!_

* * *

 **Chapter Ten -  
** _ **A New Jack**_

"You _WHAT_!?" Lucy exclaimed, making Gru shrink into himself as he sat opposite his wife by the kitchen table. The shout made Lucy wince slightly, but she did her best to let her angry expression dominate her face.

"Shh..." Gru replied, covering his lips with his finger to signal to her to be quiet. "Yoo'll wake de gurls."

"I still don't get it though." Jack spoke, sitting beside Lucy as the two looked at Gru with confusion. "Why would you leave a job like that just because they kill bad people?"

"I said eet when we were dere." Gru replied, sitting up straight again. " _No-one_ deserves to die."

"Some people do, Gru." Jack replied, before looking at the ground solemnly. "I don't even want to imagine what my life would be like if my parents were still alive..."

Jack knew that his parents probably would've kept on neglecting him, to the point where he couldn't stand it anymore, and then probably run away from home. He grimaced slightly as he imagined that horrible life.

"Dat doesn't mean dey deserved to die." Gru replied, glancing at his wife as he spoke. Jack only sighed and rubbed his head with exasperation. Not only was he tired, but he really wasn't in the mood to argue.

"You shouldn't have quit your job though, Gru!" Lucy exclaimed, still retaining that loud but wispy voice.

"I can't work for an organisation dat kills villains." Gru replied, shrinking slightly again.

"But why?" Jack said, putting his arms on the table and inching closer to Gru. "If they do, then there's no chance of them harming you again."

"Look...some people may do bad theengs, but..." Gru said, looking down to the ground with a saddened expression. "Dat doesn't mean dey deserve to die."

Gru looked back on all of the villain schemes he had orchestrated in the past. Some would cause a lot of people harm, frustration and pain. One of them surely costed a man his life...

"You keep saying that," Lucy said, interrupting his train of thought. "But that doesn't answer my question! Why would you quit your job, simply because they kill villains?"

"People change Lucy!" Gru replied harshly, catching Lucy off guard with his stern retort. "Just because dey do bad theengs _now_ , doesn't mean dey weel een de future!"

Lucy was becoming both angry and tired of this conversation, as Gru kept repeating the same statement over and over again, and not answering the question at hand. Before she could shout the question at him again, Gru looked down and continued.

"Take me for example..." He said quietly. "Before you and de gurls came eento my life, I was a bad person. I deed bad theengs! But after I adopted dem, I became a good person, and I put all de bad theengs behind me."

Jack and Lucy looked at each other in confusion. They weren't exactly sure where Gru was going with this, but they weren't going to question it until he had finished. Maybe he might finally give them a justifiable answer...

"But because of all dose bad theengs, according to AVL protocols, _I_ deserve to die..."

"No you don't." Lucy blurted softly, giving her husband a disapproving frown. "You don't deserve to die if you do good things."

"Exactly." Gru replied, looking up at his wife sadly. "What eef another villain een de AVL prison ees de same, and eef dey were geeven a chance weeth a family, dey would become a good person? Does dat mean dey deserve to die?"

Jack and Lucy turned their gazes away from Gru in thought. He was right. If Gru had been caught before he gave up villainy, he would've been deemed a bad person, and subsequently killed. The same went for Jack as well. In fact, if the AVL catch Dru now, they could decide to put him in the electric chair! After a few seconds of stumped silence, Gru continued.

"And dat's why I refuse to work for an organisation dat believes een dat." He spoke sadly, as he shifted his gaze back down to the floor. Jack began to feel a feeling of guilt, of which he had never felt before. The philosophy of 'some people deserve to die', made him feel better and less regretful after he killed someone. But now, he could only think to the people he killed, and feel entirely disgusted with himself.

Jack no longer wanted to be a part of this conversation. He slid his hands down his face before speaking.

"Look, I'll see you guys in the morning." He said quickly, getting up from his seat at the kitchen table and storming out of the room. Gru looked up at him as he left and sighed. Lucy still kept her head down, her eyes flickering slightly as the need for sleep was slowly enveloping her.

"I'm sorry I left de job, Lucy." Gru said quietly and sadly, giving his wife his full attention. Lucy peered up at him dejectedly. "But I hope yoo can understand why."

"Yeah..." She mumbled, as she nodded her head slowly. "I get it. But what are you gonna do for work now?"

"I'll find sometheeng..." Gru replied, placing fake reassurance into his voice. "I know I weel."

Unfortunately for Gru however, that was a complete lie. He had no clue what he was going to do and he was doubtful that he would find another fulfilling job.

Unless of course, he went back to the family tradition...

* * *

Margo awoke to a few shouts and yells downstairs, and got both curious and afraid. She sat up and peered over to her younger sisters with a small huff of frustration. Agnes was still fast asleep with Kyle, and Edith was practically hanging off the bed uncomfortably while also fast asleep. She laid back down and attempted to drift back off, but the worries wouldn't allow her to.

There were a multitude of bad thoughts on her mind. What if another bad guy breaks in and, this time, succeeds in killing the family? What if Jack had been lying this whole time, and was just waiting for the perfect moment to kill everyone? What if her mother and father go off to fight that villain organisation tomorrow, and never come back?

She was also a little angry with her dad. He never did take her down to the lab to show her Dr. Nefario's new invention, and she was upset that he didn't remember. She understood that a lot of bad things had happened, and she understood that Gru was forced to put them first, but that didn't seem to soften her disappointment.

Since there was no book to take her mind off things, Margo found herself slowly slipping into that dark abyss again. She hated that place. When they were at the orphanage, she would unwillingly travel into that place pretty much every night. But after being adopted, she very rarely did. Whenever she did, she would usually sneak downstairs, sit on the back garden porch and look up into the night sky. The moon and the stars always comforted her worries, even though she knew she would get into a lot of trouble if she was caught.

She huffed again before slipping out of bed, finding her glasses, putting them on and then putting her slippers on. She quietly wandered out of the room and sneaked downstairs, keeping her eye out for her parents. She made it to the back door without getting caught, and carefully opened it to make her way out.

As she took her first step out, she almost jumped out of her skin to see Jack sitting on one of the porch chairs and staring up into the night. He heard her open the door and turned to face her with a solemn expression.

"Margo?" He questioned tiredly, narrowing his eyes at the bespectacled twelve-year-old. He looked down at his digital watch before returning his gaze to the young girl. "What are you doing up this late?"

"Oh...well...I..." She stuttered, looking away from Jack. At this point, she had had enough and darted her gaze back to the teenager. "I could ask you the same thing!"

"You could..." Jack said, as he turned away from her and looked back up at the night sky. "But I'm not so sure you'd like the answer."

Margo's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean by that?

"Isn't the night sky just beautiful?" Jack said, shaking his head and admiring the full moon. "Really helps take your mind off it all, don't you think?"

Margo didn't respond and instead continued to stand there awkwardly. After a few seconds of silence, Jack turned back to Margo before speaking.

"Wanna watch it with me?" He asked, seeming quite sad as he spoke. Margo wanted to say no, but she really didn't want to have to lay in bed with her awful thoughts again. She did, of course, come down here to watch the night sky in the first place. She reluctantly strolled over to the other seat and sat down, before peering up into the night. They remained silent for a few seconds, before Jack broke it by continuing the original conversation.

"So you still haven't answered my question." He said, prompting Margo to look away and down to the floor with a guilty expression. Jack noticed this and seemed quite exasperated with her. "Come on Margo, I'm not your dad. I don't really care how late you stay up, I just wanna know why."

Margo kept her gaze down for another few seconds, before finally deciding to respond.

"I couldn't sleep." She muttered, shrugging slightly. Jack wasn't content with that answer and continued to probe with questions.

"Why's that?" He said, dipping his head slightly as he spoke.

"I dunno..." Margo murmured, stirring in her seat with unease. "I just couldn't."

"Margo..." Jack said with frustration, sending her a tired frown. "I'm not taking that as an answer. What's wrong?"

"I'm just not happy." She stated harshly and quickly, shooting her gaze back at Jack like it was a handgun. "So many things are changing and I don't like it."

"I get that," Jack replied quietly and sorrowfully, turning away from her and back to the sky. "I remember when everything changed, and I didn't like it either."

"Are you _really_ Edith's brother?" Margo blurted quickly and angrily, catching Jack off guard with the unexpected inquiry. "Or are you just using her for...something evil?"

"Thankfully..." Jack replied aggressively, slowly and creepily turning his gaze back to Margo. "I _am_ Edith's brother. Otherwise, I don't think you would've liked my reaction to that question!"

Margo wasn't expecting his threatening response, and she sunk into her seat slightly. Her question clearly offended him. He was probably one of the strangest people she'd ever met. He seemed to change emotions in almost an instant, and his intimidation skills were second to none. Even though he looked and talked like Edith, Margo just felt like there was something off about him.

"I know you don't want me to stay here Margo..." Jack began, looking back at the sky. Margo's expression slumped slightly, thinking about her sister. "You remind me of pretty much everyone else I've known in my life."

"It's not that..." Margo began, attracting Jack's attention almost instantly. "I mean, I want Edith to be happy. And she seems happy when she's with you. It's just..."

"You don't trust me because of what I did?" Jack said quickly, finishing Margo's sentence for her. Margo hesitated for a second, before looking away and talking.

"Yeah." She proclaimed. Jack sighed and turned his body so he was fully facing her, electing Margo to turn away completely.

"I know it won't mean much coming from me..." Jack said, moving his head in attempt to see her face. "But I did what I did to protect Edith. She's the only person I care about, and I guess that kinda clouded my judgement."

"It was still wrong!" Margo snapped, turning to face him with a disapproving frown.

"I never said it wasn't," Jack replied quickly before his face scrunched up slightly in anger. "In fact, it was _very_ wrong!"

"So then why did you do it!?" Margo exclaimed, getting louder but still trying not to alert her parents.

"Are you not listening!?" Jack snapped back, making Margo flinch backward with the unexpected volume of his voice. "Edith! That's why!"

Jack got up from his seat and walked over to the very small balcony on the porch. He looked up at the sky again and felt the anger boil inside him. He wasn't angry at Margo. He was angry with himself.

"I'm just...a complete _IDIOT_!" He exclaimed, putting his hands onto his head. Margo watched apprehensively, wanting to fetch Gru and Lucy so they could protect her. "I do stupid things all of the time, and never learn from them! All I am, is just a bad guy who's done bad things, and that's who I'll forever be. It's like those bad things never leave me alone, even when I'm trying to improve myself! I keep chastising myself and putting myself down all the time, and I'm getting _SICK_ of it! Why can't I just be normal...?"

His last sentence wasn't a shout, but more of a whimper as he put his head down. Margo wasn't expecting any of this emotion, and found herself slightly lost for words. She looked down to the floor and contemplated her next move. That's when it hit her. This guy was Edith's brother, so talking to him like she would do to Edith might be a good idea. She got up from her chair and wandered to stand beside him, however still keeping a small distance between them, just in case.

"You're not a bad guy..." She said comfortingly. Jack still kept his head down and looked completely unfazed. "Everyone makes mistakes. Maybe they might make the same one more than once, but that doesn't make them a bad person."

"That's the problem!" Jack said, turning to face the girl with tears in his eyes. She felt a little guilty for making him feel like this. "All those people I've killed. They just made a mistake, and I was so stupid to think that they deserved to die. I'm probably one of the most disgusting people on earth!"

The way that Jack spoke that last sentence brought back a distant memory. She looked back on that one night in the orphanage two years ago and replayed the scene in her mind.

 _It was very quiet in the small room. The only sound was the timid whisper of Agnes's small snores. Margo was finding it hard to fall asleep, so she glanced over to her sisters for a few seconds. Edith was facing away from her and remained very still. Unusually still. She usually shuffled around a lot when she was asleep, but tonight she was completely inanimate._

 _"Margo?" A small voice quivered. "You awake?"_

 _Margo distinctly recognized it as Edith's voice. That explained why she was so still. She, as well as Margo, must've had difficulties falling asleep._

 _"Yeah." Margo replied, as her seven year old sister turned around to face her. Even though it was quite dark in the room, the shine of the moon allowed Margo to make out the small tears in her eyes. "Hey, why are you crying?"_

 _"Why has no-one adopted us yet?" She whimpered, as she began clutching onto her pillow. "Are we gonna be here forever?"_

 _"No..." Margo replied softly, as she sat up in her bed. She was a little unsure of how to respond to such a sensitive subject. "I'm...I'm sure we'll get adopted soon enough."_

 _"But what if Miss Hattie's right?" Edith chirped, one of the tears now rolling down her cheek. "What if we're unadoptable?"_

 _Margo hesitated and racked her mind for an answer that would apese her younger sister. She couldn't think of anything. She didn't want to lie and say that they would definitely be adopted, because there was a still a chance that they would be there forever, but she also wanted to make her sister's tears go away._

 _"I bet someone will adopt you two..." Edith continued, glancing at the sleeping body of her younger sibling. "Agnes is so cute, and you're so smart. What am I though? I'm just annoying! I'm probably one of the most annoying kids on earth."_

 _Margo couldn't stand this for another second._

 _"Edith..." She began, as she got out of bed and got close to her little sister. "You're one of the best kids I've ever met. You're funny, you're loving, you're adorable. I guarantee, if anyone comes to adopt us, you will be coming as well. Whether you like it or not!"_

 _Edith's expression changed quickly and she giggled, even though a few tears were still lingering. She put her arms around her older sister's neck, holding tightly as if she was clinging on for dear life. Margo smiled and closed her eyes, putting her arms around her back in return._

 _"I love you, Margo." Edith whispered, making Margo choke up slightly._

 _"I love you too."_

Margo couldn't help but smile slightly at that memory, knowing that, in the end, they did get adopted and now had a loving family. She erased the smile before Jack noticed, now seeing that one of the tears in his eyes was streaming down his cheeks. She knew that dealing with this guy wouldn't be exactly the same as dealing with Edith, but she knew that it had to be similar, considering they were practically the same person.

"Jack..." Margo began, taking a step closer to the teen. "You can't be disgusting if you look after your sister the way you do. You risked your life twice to save her. And if you think that makes you disgusting, then I'm sorry, you must be stupid."

Margo took a huge risk by being so firm at the end. Jack was prone to getting angry, and the way he fought in the kitchen showed how easily he could harm her. But instead, he slowly turned to face her, with more than one tear streaming from both eyes. He chuckled before speaking.

"Look at me!" He said with a beaming smile, gesturing his arm towards her. "Being comforted by a twelve-year-old squirt!"

Margo frowned at his slightly offensive response, but did feel proud of herself for making him feel better. He moved away from the balcony quickly and approached her, making her flinch backwards a little in fear. Jack however got to her fast, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you Margo." He said softly, making full eye-contact with her and calming her nerves. "Not only for making me feel happier, but for looking after Edith all these years. She's told me all about what you've done for her, and I feel eternally grateful. How do I repay you?"

Margo looked to the floor in contemplation, before smiling confidently and nodding her head.

"By taking down those bad guys!" She exclaimed, giving the air a small punch. Jack smirked before replying.

"You got it!" He said joyfully before a small awkward silence took over the air. Jack looked away for a few seconds, preparing himself, before saying what needed to be said.

"I'm... _sorry_...for what you saw Margo." He spoke quietly, with a tone that expressed his guilt. "As I said, I did it to keep Edith and...well...everyone safe. I know that doesn't make it right, but I hope you can see that the worry took over me, and I did something that I'll never do again. I know it's gonna take some time, but...I really hope that you can... _forgive me_."

Suddenly, Jack was caught off guard by an unexpected hug. Margo only hugged him for a second, but it was enough to turn Jack's expression into one of complete bewilderment. After a few seconds, he snapped out of his trance and a warm smile breached his face.

Margo was unsure why she gave him a hug, considering that she'd only known him for about a day. But the way he apologized sounded incredibly familiar. It was like it was difficult for him to do so...

...just like it was for Edith.

"Margo!?" The familiar voice of Gru exclaimed from behind them, causing her to jump with anxiety. "What are yoo doing up at dis hour!?"

Margo knew she was busted. Gru caught Edith sneaking around very late at night once, and grounded her instantly, no matter how much she begged and apologized. She was in a bit of a predicament, and with Gru's interrogating frown getting larger, she knew she had to act before she was forced to face the music.

"My bad." Jack said before Margo could open her mouth, prompting Gru to shoot his angry stare at him. "I was getting a little loud and I woke her up on accident. She was worried, so she came down to check if I was okay. Surely she won't get punished for being considerate..."

"Oh, well...no I guess not." Gru replied, his expression softening up slightly. He then gestured his arm towards the back door, indicating for Margo to follow him. "Let's get yoo back to bed."

Just before the door closed, Margo turned back and shot Jack a thankful smile. Jack returned a wink that implied 'anytime', before turning back and looking up at the night sky again. The loneliness of space both frightened and comforted him at the same time, and his mind began to drift off into an ocean of thoughts.

He didn't believe in God or heaven, but he still hoped that the afterlife was something pretty cool. Before, he used to think it for his own sake, so that he could be excited to leave his terrible life. Now though, he thought it for Darren, who he hoped was enjoying the afterlife...if there was one.

Jack sighed deeply in sadness as he thought of his former best friend. He missed him a lot. But maybe this is just the removal of the last remnant of Jack's old life. He was a new Jack now, and he wasn't sure if Darren would've like his new personality anyway.

He opened the back door and made his way back to his sofa bed in the living room. He was absolutely shattered, and he needed his energy for tomorrow...

* * *

"So dis ees de plan..." Gru began, staring down at his whole family who were sitting on the crocodile sofa. He used his hands to gesture towards the whiteboard that he propped up on an easel. Drawn upon it were different diagrams and maps of the IVB headquarters, each one annotated to explain different parts of the plan.

Gru gave the whole family a very serious stare, as he talked to them in a professional manner. Jack stood on the other end of the easel, crossing his arms and seeming very casual.

"As de diagram shows, de IVB headquarters ees underground..."

"Really?" Edith blurted, narrowing her eyes at the whiteboard with a mocking smile. "I don't think the diagram agrees..."

The family chuckled while Gru gave his middle-daughter a disapproving frown.

"Yes! Okay!" He said strenly, putting up his hands in an attempt to quiet everyone down. "I'm not very good at art, I can admeet dat. I have talents een other regards, such as stealth and smarts and-"

"Yeah, we get it." Jack said, rolling his eyes and nodding his head in boredom. "Good at walking and reading books, yada, yada, yada. Just tell us the plan!"

Gru shot the teen an angry stare, wanting to retort. But figuring it would be quicker and easier to just move along. He straightened up and cleared his throat before gesturing at the whiteboard again.

"Since de only way to enter de complex ees through dis elevator," He said, pointing at a poorly drawn elevator shaft that lead down onto the poorly drawn first floor. "And since dat elevator requires identification, we're gonna need to force our way down."

"With explosives." Jack stated with a menacing smile, nodding his head excitedly at the family. He began jumping up and down a little in giddiness, thinking about all of the fire and destruction.

"Yesss..." Gru replied, giving the boy a confused glare. Jack noticed his confusion and calmed himself down, before pretending to be professional. "Now once eenside, de minions, who weel all be equiped weeth freeze rays, weel freeze any agents who attempt to stop us."

"What weapon am I having?" Jack asked, giving Gru an excited stare. With the arsenal that Gru possessed, there was probably a whole array of different, powerful guns that Jack could use.

"Uhh...yoo get de choice of de shreenk ray or de fart gun." Gru replied, seeming slightly frustrated to be interrupted again.

"What!?" Jack replied, giving him a disappointed look. "You must have some better choices than that!"

"Not really." Gru replied firmly, wanting to get back to explaining the plan. "Me, Dru, Lucy and a lot of de minions have already reserved de other weapons."

Jack turned to face Lucy and Dru with an angry glare. The two of them returned mocking smiles. Jack huffed before continuing the argument that he wasn't finished with.

"I thought you said all the minions were having freeze rays!" He blurted.

"Not _all_ of dem." Gru replied. "We haven't got a thousand freeze rays!"

"Well get that dude you have in the lab to make some more!" Jack retorted before Gru loudly sighed and shot Jack a deadly expression.

"Shreenk ray or fart gun!" He shouted. "Wheech ees eet gonna be!?"

"Ugh...fine!" Jack exclaimed, turning away from him angrily and sulking. "Shrink ray."

Jack couldn't help but huff again after giving him his choice. What a terrible weapon to have. It didn't cause any damage, it only made people temporarily smaller. He did like the concept, but not when it came to such an important mission.

"Right. Okay." Gru said, straightening himself out again. "Now den, after getting through de furst floor and down de staircase, we weel have to clear de second floor. What's on de second floor, Jack?"

"Dorms and stuff." Jack mumbled, not looking at him.

"Well dat's gonna be de hardest floor to clear den." Gru said, turning back to the family, but mostly to Dru and Lucy. "Eef my research ees correct, de floor beneath dat one ees de one weeth de boss's office on eet, am I correct?"

Gru, proceeded by the rest of the family, turned to face Jack for clarification. For a few seconds, Jack didn't notice them look at him, and kept his head down in a sulk. After clicking back into reality, he turned and met their questioning expressions.

"Oh! Uh...yeah." He mumbled, shaking his head in confusion. "You three are gonna stay on the second floor and watch for reinforcements though, while I face the boss on my own!"

"What?" Lucy pondered with surprise. "Is that really a good idea?"

"Yes." Jack said firmly, before turning around pointing a demanding finger at Gru. "And we are _not_ debating that, okay!"

"Oh...okay." Gru said in befuddlement, feeling slightly intimidated by his sharp tone. "But...why?"

"Because me and him have a score to settle, and I wanna be the one to settle it!" He said, clenching his fists slightly. Agnes perked her head up with worry after he spoke.

"But you could get hurt." She said dejectedly, prompting both Edith and Margo to send him the same expression.

"Trust me..." Jack muttered through gritted teeth, the thought of his boss's face making him sick to his stomach. "I won't."

"Well, we'll be checking on yoo." Dru said, disguising his energetic smile with an instructive frown. "We don't want de IVB to ween."

"You won't have to worry, because I am _NOT_ losing." Jack replied, slamming his fist into his palm as he spoke. Margo and Agnes got slightly afraid when Jack spoke like that, but Edith loved it. She thought it made him sound like the toughest, coolest guy ever.

"Anyway..." Gru said, gesturing to the whiteboard once more, electing everyone to look towards where he was pointing. "After Jack successfully defeats de boss, and after we remove all de frozen agents from de base, we will plant explosives all around and blow eet up eento smithirines."

"One small problem." Lucy said sternly, giving Gru a condescending stare. "You don't work for the AVL anymore, so where do we put all the frozen villains?"

"Oh...well...um..." Gru said, looking around the room and racking his mind. He couldn't let them go to the AVL prison, and he knew that Jack and Lucy knew why.

"Well, _you_ still work for them Lucy." Jack said, gesturing his arm towards her. "Why don't you just take them all in?"

"We're not letting dem go to dat prison!" Gru exclaimed, giving Jack an unexpectedly angry gaze.

"You have got be kidding me!" Jack yelled, a small bewildered smile crawling onto his face. "So where are we gonna put them, huh? Shall we just shove them in the living room and let them stay here until they thaw out?"

"We'll just have to settle weeth a normal prison." Gru proclaimed.

"Cuz that's gonna work." Jack replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms stubbornly. "Gru. We have no choice here. We're gonna have to take them to the AVL prison, and let the AVLdecide what to do with them."

"Dat's not happening!" Gru yelped angrily, taking a step towards him. "Yoo can't just disregard what I said last night! No-one ees going to dat prison, and dat's _FINAL_!"

Jack tensed up and felt that same feeling of anger beginning to boil again. Just before he furiously retorted, he spotted the girl's expressions in the corner of his eye. They were beginning to display fear, probably because an argument was brewing. He really didn't want to scare them, so he knew he had to submit defeat before it got out of hand again. He took a deep breath and then spoke softly.

"...fine." He muttered, as he returned his attention to Gru, who looked a little surprised to see him give in. Jack heard the small sighs of relief that came from each of the girls, and that softened him up completely.

"Thank yoo." Gru said, untensing and calming himself down. He didn't really want to argue, but he had to make sure that no-one was going to die in that AVL hell.

"But don't blame me when they escape!" Jack added aggressively, before crossing his arms. "Now, is there anything else we need to know?"

"Well..." Gru said, looking back at the whiteboard. "I guess...just don't die."

"I'll take that on board, thank you." Jack said sarcastically, sending him a small grin. Gru returned the smile, before turning to face the whole family.

"Any questions?" He asked, bending over slightly and clasping his hands together.

"Yeah...why did we have to hear all that?" Margo asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh...'cuz I needed to talk to you." Jack said, before shuffling over to stand in front of the three sisters. They peered up at him cutely, and Jack hesitated a little before he spoke, taking a second to admire their adorableness. He mostly hated kids and found them to be grating, but these three girls were the polar opposite to him.

"Um...right." He said, shaking his head a little. "Now obviously we can't leave you on your own, especially since they might send another agent to the house..."

He winced internally as he saw their worried expressions return. He took another second to allow the information to be digested, before continuing.

"So you're gonna have to hideout deep within the lab for a while. That doctor guy is gonna look after you, and we'll get four or five minions to come guard you with some cool guns or something."

"But I thought all the good guns were taken." Margo replied, poking a hole in his plan. Jack turned away in thought for a second. He considered giving away his shrink ray, but he really didn't want to be left with the fart gun...

"Well then, they can have some melee weapons." Jack said, shrugging his shoulders. "Axes. Swords. Nunchucks. The whole deal!"

"Nunchucks?" Edith questioned, her face beaming largely. Jack was confused with her gleeful reaction, but couldn't mirror it in his expression, as her smile was making him grin warmly. "Can I use one of them?"

"No!" Gru blurted, walking to stand in between the blonde and Jack. "Yoo know yoo're not allowed to use dem anymore after what yoo deed to dat boy."

"Aww..." Edith moaned, her expression slumping in disappointment. "But I'm so good with them! Plus, that boy deserved it for getting mud on my hat..."

Jack chuckled before turning to face Gru with a shrug.

"Come on Gru, let her have one." He said. "They'll be more protected if she does..."

Gru switched his gaze between Edith, who was using her expression to plead and beg, and Jack, who was giving him a face that implied 'just say yes'. He scoffed in defeat before turning his head away from the both of them.

"Ugh...fine." He said, proceeded by Edith's cheers of excitement. Gru quickly cut them off however by adding some rules to the agreement. "But no using dem against your sisters, or de minions, or Dr. Nefario, or-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay!" She said quickly, rolling her eyes but keeping that happy smile. Gru frowned as Dru and Lucy got up from the sofa to stand beside him and Jack. Dru put his hand on Gru's shoulder before speaking happily.

"Yoo ready, brother?" He said, grinning profusely. Gru turned to face him and mirrored his excitement.

"Yoo bet I am!" He replied, punching the air lightly before Margo ran up to him and hugged into his side.

"Be safe." She said, sounding worried but holding a wide smile. Edith and Agnes joined the hug as well, the former seeming more jublient, still excited at the prospect of nunchucks. Gru kneeled down and shared the hug with the three girls, as Jack and Lucy watched on warmly. Lucy gave the teen a slight nudge with her elbow, electing him to divert his attention.

"Why don't you join in?" She whispered, not turning her eyes away from the loving hug. Jack looked at her with slight bewilderment before turning back to Gru and the girls. He stared for another second before responding.

"Oh...um..." Jack muttered awkwardly. It wasn't much of a response...

Obviously, Jack had been involved with quite a few hugs in his life, most of them occuring over the past two days. But whenever he did hug someone, that someone would always be the one to start it. He had never just joined in with a hug before and didn't know how to go about just involving himself. That's when a pulse of determination coarsed through his veins. He may have never done this before, but that didn't matter because...

 _'I'm a new Jack now.'_ He thought to himself, before smiling and wandering over to the girls and Gru. He kneeled down and joined in, subconsciously expecting to be rejected and pushed out of it. But to his surprise, the girls wrapped their arms around him as well. For a second, he was slightly startled. But as he realized that this family were actually accepting him as one of their own, he closed his eyes and warmly smiled.

The hug fueled his confidence, and only made him more determined to keep them all safe. He thought back to his former life and how everyday seemed to bring more and more pain and heartbreak. He could only smile at those memories now, knowing that his new life involved spending everyday with a loving family and possessing a level of happiness that registered off the charts. For the second time in his life, everything had changed so quickly within only a few day. But this time, it was for the better. The adrenaline began pumping through his veins as his thoughts continued.

Today marked the day when the IVB would fall.

Today marked the day when Jack would get revenge on his boss.

Today marked the day when Jack's life would change forever...

...and he would officially become a new Jack.

* * *

 _And there ends Chapter Ten!_

 _Really hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, even if you didn't ;), please consider reviewing. Would mean a lot._

 _There should only be another two chapters remaining, but there might be more, I'm still a little unsure. There are still a lot of loose knots to tie up, but I'm fairly certain that I can tie them all up in two chapters. We'll see..._

 _See you in another 3-5 days!_


	11. Let's End This

_**The penultimate chapter is here!**_

 _ **Make sure your comfy before you start reading this, as this is possibly the longest chapter I will ever write. I considered splitting it into two chapters, but I didn't want to make any more horrible cliffhangers where you'd have to wait a few more days to find out the conclusion.**_

 _ **Strap yourself in for this 10,000-word chapter, and let's go.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven -  
** _ **Let's End This**_

Gru, Lucy, Dru and Jack drove through an expansive and barren landscape. A few dying trees were littered around them and the only wildlife seemed mutated beyond recognition. Jack was completely accustomed to these surroundings and remained entirely nonchalant as they drove through. The other three, on the other hand, were a little disturbed with the unpleasant environment before them. They continued to travel deeper and deeper, the world around them seeming to get more and more abhorrent, until Jack put his hand on Gru's arm.

"Pull up here." He said, keeping his eyes locked out of the window, searching for any signs of any agents. Gru stopped the tank in what seemed like nowhere before looking around and questioning it.

"Why here?" He pondered, glancing at Jack. "I can't see de elevator."

"We need to leave a little distance between the tank and the entrance," Jack replied, getting up from his seat and checking to see if his body armor had been properly equipped. "That way, there's less of a chance of them noticing us."

"That doesn't really matter though, does it?" Lucy chirped, shrugging her shoulders. "When the explosives go off, everyone's gonna know we're here anyway."

"We don't need anyone noticing us before we set them off," Jack replied, picking up his shrink ray. "If they do, it's gonna make this a lot harder."

"Tell de minions to stop, Dru." Gru instructed, turning to face his twin brother.

"Yoo got eet!" Dru replied, before picking up a walkie-talkie and looking up into the sky. "We're down here! Yoo can't see us? How can yoo miss a huge tank like dis? Can't yoo see me waving!?"

Dru began jumping up and down, waving his free hand in the air.

"Dru...we're een de tank," Gru began, holding the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Dey're not gonna see yoo."

"Yeah, dat's us!" Dru shouted as he stopped jumping and turned to face his brother. "Well, dey saw me."

Suddenly, three very large aircrafts descended and landed beside them. The rears opened up, and hundreds of minions piled out of each one. A large amount of them were holding freeze rays, while the rest were holding many different types of unrecognizable guns. Gru, Dru, Lucy and Jack emerged from the tank before Gru called out to the little yellow army in front of him.

"Right, anyone dat has been geeven an explosive weapon, follow on behind." He commanded, waving his arms to grasp everyone's attention. "De rest of yoo, wait for de seegnal. Got eet!?"

Every minion spoke the same gibberish word in unison, as they saluted their boss. The foursome and around seventy minions began sneaking down the barren road, each of them looking in different directions.

"How much further is it?" Lucy asked, shooting her gaze around as she searched for anything suspicious.

"Not too far." Jack replied, holding the shrink ray up and remaining alert. "I can't wait to get face to face with my old boss again."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Jack." Gru stated, who was carrying a strange looking gun and swiveling it around in different directions. "We need to get een furst."

"Pfft...getting in will be easy." Jack replied, rolling his eyes. "In fact, getting through the first floor will be easy as well. There are only a few rooms, and most of them are used to store stolen artifacts."

"Well, what about de second floor?" Dru asked with worry. Jack turned to face him with determined anger in his face.

"Let's just say..." He began. "We're gonna have hundreds of trained, murderous agents as company."

"Sounds good." Dru replied sarcastically, looking down to the ground in fear.

"Pow par shuderloud liss tee feest bloor?" A minion that walked beside Gru questioned. The former AVL agent looked down to him and nodded his head.

"Good question." He replied, before looking up at Jack. "How far underground ees de furst floor?"

"Not that far down," Jack replied, remaining alert. "I'd say we need about twenty rockets to break into it."

"Dat's not a problem den." Gru replied, looking at the seventy minions that surrounded him and smiling in excitement. A few seconds after, a small white cuboid, that had a double metal door on the front, came into view. The shine and cleanliness of it looked completely out of place when compared to the derelict surroundings.

"There's the elevator." He proclaimed as he pointed towards it. He turned around to face everyone and spoke dangerously. "It's time."

Gru, Dru and Lucy looked around at each other with fearful expressions. The butterflies were forming in their stomachs as the situation at hand was becoming clearer. This was the most dangerous mission they had faced, and will most likely ever face. They were about to fight a huge organization, one that the AVL had failed to take down several times, all on their own. If it all went bad, the consequences would be even worse.

If Gru and Lucy don't return from this mission, the girls would be sent back to a terrible life at Miss Hattie's. Imagining their distraught expressions when they found out scared the trio beyond belief. All they wanted was to turn back around, head home and continue on with their normal (or what counts as normal for the Gru family) lives. But they knew they had to do this. It was imperative that everything went right. Gru closed his eyes and took a deep breath before placing fake confidence in his voice.

"Yoo ready?" He asked as he clenched his fists, looking over to his wife and brother. Dru began trembling as he looked to the floor, while Lucy simply stared at her husband for a few seconds, racking her mind to find some sense of belief.

"You betcha." She responded anxiously after the few seconds of silence died out. "I'm...I'm so, so ready..."

"Guys, don't worry," Jack stated sternly, giving them all serious expressions. "If you trust in your skills, then nothing will go wrong."

Jack spoke and looked calm, but inside, his mind was going crazy. Only a few days ago, his dream was to be a part of the IVB's top ranks. Now, his dream was to see his boss's terrified face as Jack stormed in and took him down. That quick transition was a little befuddling, but he wouldn't allow it to take control. Pure adrenaline began pumping through his blood before he smiled mischievously and put his fist in the air.

"LET'S END THIS!" He yelled as the minions jumped up in a cheer of excitement around him. Jack charged forwards and the minions followed on behind. Dru and Lucy watched nervously as they remained glued to the spot, unable to free themselves of their bad thoughts. But for Gru, Jack's adrenaline seemed to rub off on him, and the determination coursed through his veins.

"Yes..." He growled through gritted teeth, remembering that these guys were the ones who sent hitmen to kill his daughters. "Let's..."

He also charged forward, trying his hardest to keep up with the unbelievable speed that the minions possessed. The yellow army raced ahead and came to a stop the second that Jack did. Jack pointed his finger towards the ground a few meters in front of them before yelling.

"Fire there!" He proclaimed as the minions pointed their explosive weapons to the floor and pulled the triggers, sending dozens of rockets towards the ground. Huge craters opened up and rubble went flying everywhere, as small mushroom clouds ascended into the air. Jack stared at the fire and destruction and began drooling in satisfaction. The explosions snapped Dru and Lucy out of their fearful trance, allowing them to gather their thoughts. Gru turned to face his twin brother and gestured his arm towards the four vehicles behind them. Dru understood the signal and grabbed the walkie-talkie from his back pocket.

"Now!" He yelled before the two thundered forward. A thousand minions began charging through the barren wasteland towards the craters, as light began shining out of them.

"We can get eenside!" Gru yelped, as he peered into the hole and saw the opening to the first floor. He turned to face Jack, who met his gaze almost instantly. "Let's go!"

Jack nodded his head before everyone climbed down into the craters and through the large openings. A battle cry rung it's way across the barren wasteland and into the IVB headquarters, before being replaced by a confused silence. There was no-one around them. The entire first floor seemed empty...

"Where ees everyone?" Dru questioned, looking around at the half-destroyed room in front of them.

"They must all be on the second floor," Jack replied, taking a few step forwards and investigating every nook and cranny. "But there's usually at least one guy guarding the first floor..."

Gru investigated his surroundings as well, before turning to face the army of minions, that looked back at him in confusion.

"Plant de explosives." He instructed. The minions obliged instantly as around thirty of them scampered around the different rooms, placing down bombs. One of the minions opened up a huge wooden door that had a sign placed on it. It read 'Authorized Personnel Only'. Jack had never been inside the room and took his chance to find out what it was there for.

He walked in and found a single ray gun pointing down onto a chair, with a table placed beside it. On the side of the gun, block text read 'MIND CONTROL RAY'. His eyes widened and he ran over to the gun, just as the minion placed the bomb down and left. He inspected the gun for a few seconds before his attention was caught by a clipboard and syringe on the table. He put the shrink ray down and picked the clipboard up as he began reading the slip of paper attached.

 _MIND CONTROL INSTRUCTIONS_

 _Written below will be instructions and guidelines on how to operate the Mind Control Ray, built by Dr. Simon Joshua Ph.D. Please abide by these regulations and forward all inquiries to any head member of staff or Fiona at the third-floor reception desk._

 _First, ensure that no unauthorized personnel are in attendance when operating the machine. Employees deemed as 'unauthorized', include:_

 _\- Any IVB Recruit (or Trainee)_

 _\- Any Recruited Villains_

 _\- Any IVB Agent who has not worked with the organization for longer than ten years._

 _Please remove anyone who falls under these categories from the room before doing anything listed below._

 _Second, sit the kidnapped child down onto the chair and ensure that the ray is pointed directly at their head. Ensure that he/she remains unconscious before starting. You can do this by injecting them with the Knockout Serum developed by Dr. Joshua, which should be placed alongside these instructions. This should guarantee that the child will not wake up. AGAIN, make sure the ray is pointed at their head. The procedure will be unsuccessful if it is pointed at any other part of the body._

 _Third, warm the gun up by switching the power on and leaving it for a minute. It may not function properly if this is not done._

 _Fourth, press the red button on the side of the gun to shoot the control beam. Allow the beam to consume the child's subconscious by leaving it for at least two minutes. The child may be killed if it is left on for any longer than four minutes._

 _Fifth, remove the child from the chair and give him to the IVB Recruitment officials. They will make sure that the child is transported to the arena for the fight safely._

 _Note: This procedure should only be used on kidnapped children and any uncomplying members/agents. The procedure may need to be repeated every five years, but this does not apply to every recruit._

Jack was almost sick as he read the words printed on the clipboard. This explained a lot. When he was kidnapped, they must've placed him in this chair and used the gun to control his conscience. That's why he, and the other five kids in the arena, did what they did. They had tricked their subconscious into thinking they _had_ to kill each other.

At first, he was completely disgusted. But then, he realized that the only reason he had killed all these people over the past few years, was because his mind had been warped to do so. He wasn't actually born a bad person, but instead transformed into one. That comforted him a little, but also angered him at the same time.

The note at the end also explained why he had changed so much over the past few days. It looked like the mind control was wearing off, and coupled with the love from his sister and her family, he reverted back to the Jack he once was. In fact, it was then that he realized, that before he'd actually been kidnapped, he'd never wanted to kill anyone once. Not even his unloving, hate-filled parents. The murder of the social worker was, of course, a complete accident. The only thing that Jack's brain was actually inflicted with, was the tendency to get very angry, very quickly. And that was something that most likely developed after ten years of complete neglect from his parents. He slammed the clipboard back onto the table and began trembling with rage.

The boss was gonna pay for this...

"Jack!" Gru exclaimed as he poked his head through the doorway. Jack snapped out of his thoughts and he turned to face him quickly. "We're ready to start clearing de second floor! Are yoo okay?"

Gru added the inquiry at the end after noticing the mix of anger and bewilderment in Jack's expression.

"Oh! Uh...yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Jack replied quickly, shaking his head and picking the shrink ray back up. "Let's go."

Gru didn't believe his reassurance, but this was neither the time or place to argue about it. The two ran out of the room and met back up with Dru and Lucy, who were anxiously hyperventilating.

"The staircase is this way!" Jack yelped, pointing at a wooden double-door. The four, plus all the minions, raced through the doorway and descended down the stairwell. After going down four flights of stairs, they reached the second floor and propelled themselves through the doorway. They emerged into an extremely long hallway, with hundreds of doors covering the walls all the way down. Again, no-one was in sight.

"What the hell!?" Jack proclaimed, taking a few steps down the hall and shaking his head in confusion. "There's no-one here."

"Something's not right..." Lucy announced dejectedly, aiming her weapon around her surroundings, preparing herself for an unexpected event.

"Maybe dey're all hiding een deir dorms..." Dru suggested, walking to stand beside Jack. Jack knew that Dru wasn't correct, since IVB agents are trained to fight against any sort of danger, but agreeing would be the perfect excuse to keep them up here while he goes down to fight the boss on his own.

"Yeah, maybe." Jack lied. "Search each one. I'm going to have an unscheduled meeting with the boss."

"Jack. I'm coming weeth yoo." Gru stated, walking up to him as he spoke.

"No you're not, Gru." Jack replied, attempting to keep himself from getting angry. He needed to save his anger for the boss. "We talked about this earlier. This is my score to settle!"

"Dat guy sent people to kill my family!" Gru argued, frowning and putting on his demanding expression. "I've got a score to settle too! I'm coming weeth yoo and dat's _FINAL_!"

"NO IT ISN'T GRU!" Jack screamed back, pointing his finger threateningly. "I'm putting my foot down here! I know you're only trying to help me, but the only way you _can_ , is by staying up here!"

"Jack, plea-" Gru began, before being instantly interrupted.

"No, Gru!" Jack blurted. "That guy is probably a better fighter than me. So if you can't beat me, how can you expect to last a second against this guy!?"

"Jack...we just don't want you to get hurt." Lucy said softly, coming up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. Jack's rage calmed down quickly as she did so. "If he's a better fighter than you, then you might need back up."

"Maybe you're right Lucy..." Jack began, giving her a stern but calm glare. "But there's only one way to find out for sure. Please. Just stay up here."

Lucy turned to face Gru and shrugged. Gru gave the two a frustrated glare before he huffed and opened up the first dorm door to search for agents.

"Fine!" He stated angrily. Jack felt a little guilty for getting so demanding and enraged, but he couldn't let the guilt overcome his determination.

He darted down the hallway towards the second-floor staircase and barreled his way down them. He leaped through the doorway and into the third-floor reception, darting his gaze directly at the reception desk. The receptionist wasn't there.

Jack began to feel a little worried. Was the boss going to be gone as well? He wasn't sure, but there was only one way to find out the answer.

"Right then." Jack said, clicking the joints in his shoulders and knuckles before smiling evilly. "Time to end this."

He threw the shrink ray to the floor and approached the large door. He booted it to the ground and thundered into the boss's office. He shot his angry gaze at the desk, where he saw that the boss's chair was turned away from him, as usual. He began walking up to it dangerously, tensing his muscles and clenching his fists in anticipation. As he got in front of the desk, he grabbed the chair in front of it and threw it across the room. It slammed into one of the paintings and knocked it to the ground. The boss slowly swiveled around in his chair and met his angry gaze.

"Jack..." He muttered. "So nice to see you again."

"Stop talking like you're so strong and scary!" Jack exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the desk, creating a large dent in it. "I ain't afraid of you!"

"I know you're not Jack." The boss replied, sitting back in his chair. "And that upsets me. You would've become such a great villain. I mean, you killed Fierce and you defeated my two spies. Only someone with real talent can do that."

"No!" Jack blurted in response, pointing a threatening finger at him. "Only someone who's had their minds warped when they were a child can do that. And while we're on the topic, I found your little 'Mind Control Ray'. You have some real nerve, you know that..."

"Ohhhh...so you know." The boss replied, lifting his head in slight surprise. "I did it for your own good, Jack. You're a strong person, and with a little bit of a guidance, you could've been moulded into one of the best villains of the last century. But you let that snot-nosed brat and her stupid little family take your mind all for themselves!"

"Don't talk about my family like that..." Jack growled as he began to violently shake in anger.

" _Your_ family?" The boss replied, grinning with amusement. "The only one of them that you can characterize as your family is the urchin with the pink hat. The rest of them are just using you! They don't care about you! They just don't want you to hurt them, so they're using love to manipulate you."

"That's not true!" Jack screamed aggressively. "And you're one to talk about manipulation! Using a kid's subconscious to do your bidding! That's the most blatant piece of manipulation if I've ever seen it!"

"I try my best..." The boss replied, sitting back in his seat and smirking evilly.

"Just stop talking." Jack replied, tensing up angrily. He couldn't wait to start beating this guy down.

"I had a sister once, you know." The boss announced suddenly, turning in his chair a little as he spoke. "Notice the keyword 'had'. She was in the way, so I killed her. Decapitated her I did. You should've seen her face when I cut through her neck with that sword."

He began chuckling as he spoke that last sentence.

"You're sick." Jack said, shaking his head in disgust.

"Why thank you." He replied, smiling widely before leaning in and talking furiously. "Do you want to know how old she was?"

"God no!" Jack exclaimed, the apprehension building in his voice. He really didn't want to hear this conversation, especially if it was going where he thought it was going. The boss chuckled again, only this time, more evilly.

"She was nine." He said with a grin. Jack almost vomited. "If I remember those profiles correctly, that's how old _your_ sister is, am I right?"

"Yes..." Jack muttered angrily, almost jumping over the table and beating the boss to a pulp right then. "But what has that got to do with anything!?"

"You have one final chance, Jack!" The boss blurted, standing up and towering over him in an attempt to intimidate him. It wasn't working. "Kill your sister! And after that, kill that whole family! If you do that, you'll be just like me and I will make sure you will be next in line to take over as the boss of the IVB! It's a simple request."

"SIMPLE REQUEST!?" Jack screamed, his violent shakes becoming even wilder. "You are absolutely insane, you know that right!? She's nine years old! She's my sister! I don't care if you make me boss of the world, I'm not killing her! My little sister, and her entire family, are all that I care about anymore! They accepted me into their home and treated me like one of their own! _NO-ONE_ has ever done that for me before! I would give my life to keep them safe! And now, you're gonna pay for trying to hurt them!"

"Pfft...I am, am I?" The boss replied, walking from behind his desk to get face to face with Jack. "I highly doubt it! I've been fighting for thirty years! I have more experience than anyone you've ever met! You on the other hand, you're just weak! _Ooohh, I can't kill her she's only nine years old! Ooohh, I can't kill them they're my family! Ooohh, I can't intimidate Felonious Gru he's too strong!_ All you ever do is whine and sulk! You're just a little kid! And you seriously think I'm gonna get beaten up by some pathetic little tyke like yourself!? Give it your best shot!"

"Oh! I will alright!" Jack exclaimed, before sending a punch towards his face. The boss snickered and easily dodged it, but that was part of Jack's plan. He jerked his body at the last second and flung a flying kick into the boss's stomach, sending him crashing into the wall.

The boss growled and got up quickly. He lunged at Jack with all of his strength, but Jack managed to dodge him by millimeters. The boss managed to save himself from falling to the ground in a heap and turned to face him with an expression of pure rage.

"Is this it?" Jack chuckled mockingly. "I think you're the one that's weak, old man!"

"I'm only getting started..." The boss muttered through gritted teeth, before strafing towards him with pace. Jack tracked his movements and attempted to calculate the way to dodge, but he was moving too fast. He slammed into Jack's side and tackled him to the ground, before sending a few powerful punches while he sat on top of him. Jack managed to jerk his head out of the way of the last few, but the first one made full contact with the side of his head. He slid under the boss's legs and sent a powerful elbow to his cranium. The boss flung himself forward to dodge it and hit Jack with a scorpion kick as he did so. Jack flew through the air and landed on the ground with a huge slam. His back and bones began to ache severely, but he didn't let the pain get to him.

He leaped to his feet and analyzed the boss, who was also getting back up. He needed to plan out his next move but found himself slightly lost for ideas. The boss strafed forward again, but this time, Jack took a guess with the direction of the dodge. He picked correctly and managed to swiftly miss his tackle, before giving him a right hook as he jumped through the air. The boss was flung up against the wall, where a painting fell down and hit him on the head.

"Just give up..." Jack said, breathing heavily as he spoke. "I won't kill you if you just give up!"

"You won't kill me anyway." The boss replied, getting up from the floor, seeming completely unhurt. "You're too weak."

"I'm _NOT_ weak!" Jack retorted, the anger seething in his expression.

"You can't even kill a nine-year-old, Jack." The boss replied mockingly, chuckling a little as he did so. "That makes you weak."

"That makes me weak!? Are you serious!?" Jack replied furiously. "Anyone who can kill a person so young and still live with themselves is truly disgusting! And that's exactly what you are! DISGUSTING!"

"Enough talk..." The boss replied fiercely, before charging at Jack. Jack attempted to dodge him, but the boss managed to get enough contact with his side to knock him to the ground. Jack rolled as he landed and prepared to throw a punch when he got to his feet. Unfortunately, he didn't see that the boss had got to him very quickly, and he sent a flying right hook into Jack, flinging him across the room painfully. Jack felt the agony in all of his limbs and his body, making it almost impossible for him to move. The boss took his chance while he was weak by moving over to him, picking him up and throwing him hard into the wall.

As Jack laid on the floor in complete anguish, the shock and panic took over his judgment completely. The boss stared down at Jack in satisfaction, enjoying the sight of Jack stewing in pain. He pushed himself to his feet, even if the pain was unbearable, and quickly reached to his back pocket. He grabbed the handgun that he put there as a last resort and aimed it at the boss.

"You're not playing fair, Jack." The boss said with a huge grin. Jack's legs began to wobble and his mind began to fade into a dazzling confusion. He had to try really hard to form coherent sentences.

"I...I don't care!" He exclaimed, as his vision blurred slightly. "I'm gonna...gonna _KILL_ you!"

The boss mockingly scoffed, before strafing towards him again. Jack attempted to aim the gun at him as he danced left and right, but his confusion made it practically impossible. The boss reached him and smacked the gun out of his hand, sending it flying across the room. He then grabbed Jack by the shoulders and threw him to the floor hard. Jack felt every bone in his body ripple as the pain reached unbelievable levels. The boss laughed hard as he watched the wince in his face.

"Weak!" He yelped with a mocking grin, before wandering behind his desk and pulling something out of his drawer. Jack attempted to see what he grabbed, but the blur in his vision wouldn't allow him to. The boss made his way back over to him and the item in his hand became just about recognizable. It was a double-barreled shotgun.

"Please..." Jack begged as he tried his hardest to move. The pain in his muscles, however, was imprisoning him to the ground.

"You had your chance, Jack!" The boss screamed, towering over him as he laid on the ground. "You brought this on yourself! If you had just killed Gru's family, none of this would have to happen! But you had to let your weaknesses overcome your strengths! Family doesn't matter! Life is all about the control you have over others! Family simply gets in the way! You need to push it out of your life and get on with intimidating and murdering your enemies! That's all that matters!"

"No..." Jack muttered aggressively, his eyes half closed as he spoke. "Family...is all that matters. To me anyway..."

"Exactly..." The boss stated bleakly, shaking his head in disappointment. "You're weak. You did all of this to keep your family safe, and all of it will be for nothing..."

"What...?" Jack spoke weakly, wanting to exclaim in fear, but only managing a whisper.

"After you're gone, your family will be my next target." The boss announced, the menacing smile returning. "I can't wait to see their faces when I tell them you're dead. They're gonna be distraught. They might even cry as well. Luckily for them though, it won't last long."

"Please..." Jack mumbled as a few tiny tears appeared in his eyes. "Don't hurt them..."

"I also can't wait to see their lifeless expressions after I pummel them all to death!" The boss continued evilly, his grin growing wider and wider as he spoke. "Just imagine it! Gru and his wife, their corpses being used for firewood! That twin brother, his head decapitated and stuck on top of a spike. Those three little girls, laying dead on the floor of Gru's living room. It's gonna be so much fun!"

"Please..." Jack pleaded, the tears now fully streaming from his eyes. He was crying hard as he laid on the floor. "Please just stop..."

The imagery was too horrific and he couldn't stand another second of it, especially knowing that it would come true if he was killed. The determination ran through his veins again and he attempted to leap to his feet. But he just couldn't. He felt the most pain he had ever felt in his life as he tried to move and he cried out in agony.

This was it. He had lost. He was going to die. His family was going to die.

The IVB had won.

"Anyway..." The boss said, cocking his head creepily. "It's been fun, Jack. Send me a postcard from hell!"

The boss pointed the shotgun at Jack's head and the teen closed his eyes in preparation for his death. He thought about his little sister. That's what he wanted his last thoughts to consist of.

He remembered the hug they shared after they were reunited.

He remembered when she fell asleep into his side and his heart melted with the adorableness.

He remembered her gleeful face after he tackled Fierce to the ground.

He remembered when he gave her a goodnight kiss.

He remembered when she told him that she loved him.

He remembered when she hugged him and told him that he meant something to her.

He remembered her face after he punched the man in black to the ground and saved her life.

Even though he was about to die, he couldn't resist but smile at the memories. All except for the last one...

He remembered the parting hug they shared before he left for the mission.

That broke him inside...

"I love you, Edith." He whispered, before tensing up and preparing himself for the bang of the shotgun. "Goodbye..."

 **BANG!**

The gun went off. Silence took over the room straight after. The silence was deafening. It scared him. It really scared him. He wasn't sure why, but it petrified him. The pain in his head roared. The blur in his vision became stronger. The consciousness in his brain faded.

And then suddenly, everything went black...

* * *

Gru was now tired of checking dorms. He had searched through twenty of them and it was dawning on him that this place was definitely empty. He wandered back into the hallway just as Lucy emerged from another doorway.

"I think it's time we just give up." Lucy said, shaking her head in boredom.

"Good idea." He replied, before pointing towards the staircase to the third floor. "We need to see eef Jack needs help."

"Gru, you heard what he said," Lucy replied. "The only way we can help him is by staying well away and letting him finish this on his own."

"Lucy! De man downstairs sent hitmen to kill yoo!" Gru responded angrily. "He also sent a trained agent to kill Edith!"

Gru found it hard to say those words. It only reminded him that if Jack hadn't got there in time, Edith would be dead right now. Gru still hadn't repaid the favor to him for saving her life, so now seemed like the perfect time to compensate.

"We need to at least see eef he's okay!" Gru continued, prompting Lucy to look to the ground in uneasy contemplation. Gru moved over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "What eef he get's hurt? I mean, _really_ hurt. Eet'll break Edith's heart..."

Lucy knew he was right and the adrenaline pumped through her blood. She placed an angry expression onto her face before nodding to her husband.

"Let's go." She replied menacingly. Gru grinned before the couple darted down the staircase and into the third-floor reception. They looked around their surroundings and spotted a huge empty doorframe, with the door booted off its hinges. That's definitely where Jack was...

The two raced forward and entered through the doorway, before stopping dead in their tracks. A very tall man in a dark green tuxedo stood over the teen, who was stirring in pain. The tall man held a double-barreled shotgun in one hand, and even though they couldn't see his face, they could tell he was the one talking.

"After you're gone, your family will be my next target." He announced. "I can't wait to see their faces when I tell them you're dead. They're gonna be distraught. They might even cry as well. Luckily for them though, it won't last long."

Lucy inched forward aggressively, wanting to rip the man to shreds. Gru put an arm in front of her and stopped her from moving any closer. He looked down to the ground to watch Jack, who was looking incredibly worse for wear. Blood was trickling from his nose and two large bruises covered his forehead. Judging by the way that he was struggling to move, Gru figured that those probably weren't his only injuries.

"Please..." Jack mumbled as a few tiny tears appeared in his eyes. "Don't hurt them..."

"I also can't wait to see their lifeless expressions after I pummel them all to death!" The tall man continued evilly. "Just imagine it! Gru and his wife, their corpses being used for firewood! That twin brother, his head decapitated and stuck on top of a spike. Those three little girls, laying dead on the floor of Gru's living room. It's gonna be so much fun!"

Gru cringed and clenched his fists in a complete bout of rage. He had never felt so much anger towards someone in his whole life. Someone can threaten him all day long.

But no-one threatens his family...

Before his subconscious pushed him forward to lunge at him, Gru gathered his wits and thought hard. He put his gaze to the floor in order to contemplate. That's when his eyes set upon a handgun that was laying on the floor, just in front of his feet. He bent down quietly and picked it up to inspect it. It was the exact same one that Jack had aimed at his head a few days ago. That memory seemed distant at this point.

"Please..." Jack pleaded, the tears now fully streaming from his eyes. He was crying hard as he laid on the floor. "Please just stop..."

The way that Jack pleaded while he was on the floor put small tears in Gru and Lucy's eyes. He pleaded just like a child would, like Edith would, and that sent chills down their spines. Jack attempted to move while he laid there but had to stop himself as he screamed in agony. His almost lifeless expression and deeply saddened eyes were piercing holes in Gru's heart and he couldn't take it any longer...

"Anyway..." The tall man said, cocking his head. "It's been fun, Jack. Send me a postcard from hell!"

The tall man pointed the shotgun at Jack's head, and the teen closed his eyes in preparation for his death. Lucy darted her expression at Gru with worry, as Gru could only stare at the horrifying sight in shock. He didn't know what to do. Can he shoot and kill this man? Did he deserve to die?

"I love you, Edith." Jack whispered, before tensing up and preparing himself for the bang of the shotgun. "Goodbye..."

Did he deserve to die? Gru couldn't care less anymore...

In a wild moment of panic, Gru lifted the handgun and shot the tall man in the back.

 **BANG!**

The sound of the gun going off rippled across the room and made the silence that followed incredibly eerie. The tall man shuddered for a few seconds after the bullet penetrated his skin, before dropping the shotgun and falling to his knees. Gru noticed the huge amount of blood pouring down his back, which indicated that he had managed to shoot him right through the heart.

The man remained on his knees for a few seconds before finally collapsing to the ground. A pool of blood formed below him, and the lifelessness in his eyes disappeared completely.

Gru had just killed someone...

Gru stood there, staring at the man's lifeless body, in a pure state of shock. He had just killed a villain. Around a year ago, that could've been him that just got shot and killed. The thoughts were causing him pain and it trapped his consciousness in a blanket of guilt. Lucy turned to face her husband in shock, before darting over to Jack as he laid on the floor.

"JACK!" She yelled, as she fell to her knees and shook his side. "Are you okay!? Did he hurt you!?"

Jack didn't move. His body seemed completely inanimate. Lucy's heart skipped a beat as she watched his closed eyes remain closed, and fear took over all her senses. She quickly lunged her hand to his pulse and waited for the beat.

There it was. Beating back at her.

Lucy sighed a huge sigh of relief. He was only unconscious. She got back to her feet and turned to face Gru in panic, who was still staring at the tall man's dead body in disbelief.

"Gru!" She yelled, making him shake his head out of his daze and turn to face her. "We need to get him out of here!"

Gru nodded his head before pacing up to the body of the teen. Gru looked down at him as he laid there, filling himself up with worry as he watched his bloody, unmoving face. He bent down and used every bit of strength that he had to lift him up. Gru began slowly walking out of the room, before stopping as his phone went off in his pocket.

"Could yoo answer dat for me?" Gru requested, prompting Lucy to move over and take the phone from out of his trouser pocket. She looked at the screen and her eyes widened in worry as she saw it was Dr. Nefario. She answered it without a seconds thought.

"Doctor! Are the girls okay!?" She asked very quickly, as the two continued to make their way out of the room.

"Lucy! Where are you?" Nefario responded, avoiding the question. That only sent another pulse of fright through Lucy's heart.

"What...we're at the IVB headquarters!" Lucy replied in confusion before repeating the all-important question. "Are the girls okay!?"

"Yeah, yeah, they're fine," He said, calming Lucy's nerves down. "You need to get to the AVL headquarters now! The IVB are attacking!"

"What!?" Lucy shouted, her mouth going agape in shock. "How do you know!?"

"It's all over the news!" Nefario replied. "Forget those headquarters! Just get to the AVL now!"

"Right...uh...yeah!" Lucy responded. "Thank you doctor."

She hung the phone up before filling Gru in on the situation. His eyes grew wider as she explained everything that Dr. Nefario had just told her.

"Dat explains why dere's no-one here den!" He replied as they emerged through the doorway and back onto the second floor, Gru still carrying Jack's unconscious body over his shoulders. "We need to move fast!"

Dru and the minions stood in the center of the hallway, the villain staring at the couple angrily. That's when they noticed Jack's lifeless body, and both Dru and the minion's expressions transitioned to worry.

"Gru! Where deed yoo go?" He asked quickly, keeping his gaze centered on the teen over his shoulders. "I heard a gun shot! Ees he okay!?"

"Don't worry Dru, he's fine." Gru replied, his expression remaining concentrated on the current situation. "But we have a problem!"

"What?" Dru responded quickly. "What's going on?"

"The IVB are attacking the AVL headquarters!" Lucy chirped. "We need to stop them!"

Dru nodded his head before everyone made their way back up to the first floor, trying to keep up with Gru, who was moving slowly with Jack's heavy body over his shoulder. It took fifteen minutes, but finally, everyone had made their way back to the vehicles. Gru slumped Jack down onto the passenger seat before almost collapsing in exhaustion.

"We can't take Jack to the AVL ship if he's unconscious," Lucy exclaimed. "So what are we gonna do with him?"

"I'll take heem back to de house, yoo and Dru get to de AVL." Gru said quickly, sitting down in the driver's seat as he spoke. "I'll join up weeth yoo after he's safe."

"Are yoo sure, Gru?" Dru asked with a saddened expression.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Gru replied, before firing the tank's engine up. "Jump een de back of one of de minion's planes. I'll see yoo een a bit."

Lucy gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before her and Dru jumped out of the vehicle. They ran up and boarded one of the minion aircrafts just as Gru sped off down the road. The aircrafts took off into the sky before flying out of view. After getting a good enough distance from the base, Gru took out a small detonator from his pocket and looked down at it reluctantly.

The recent memories were flooding back and the guilt began sweeping over him again. After a few seconds of staring apprehensively at the detonator, he shook away his thoughts and pressed the button. The sounds of multiple explosions could be heard from behind as the huge mushroom cloud became visible in the rear-view mirror.

"What have I done...?" Gru chastised quietly, attempting to keep his concentration on the road, but finding it hard to escape his disgusting thoughts.

* * *

Gru pulled up into the drive of the house. He shot his gaze around the exterior and breathed a sigh of relief to see no damage or any signs of breaking and entering. He switched off the engine and lifted Jack over his shoulders again, trying his hardest to ignore the severe fatigue in his muscles. He made his way out of the car and up to the front door, which he managed to unlock after a minute of fumbling with his keys.

He trudged through the hallway and into the living room, slamming his palm down on the button the second that he made it to the rhino chair. The cannon thumped down to the ground and opened up to allow them to enter. He slowly trudged in, his grip loosening on Jack as the pain got larger, before descending down into the lab.

After getting down into the lab, he made his way over to the minion's recreational room, where Dr. Nefario was looking after the girls. He opened the door quickly and shot his gaze around the room, hoping to see the girls completely safe.

Thankfully, Edith was using her nunchucks to play table tennis with Margo, while Agnes was showing Dr. Nefario her unicorns, who looked beyond bored and frustrated. Everyone in the room turned towards Gru as he walked in, and everyone mirrored that same expression of worry after seeing Jack's unconscious body over his shoulders.

Gru relaxed a little after seeing the girls but didn't spend any longer than a second looking at them. He jogged as fast as he could towards the nearest sofa and laid Jack down on it. He deeply gasped in fatigue after putting him down.

"Is he okay!?" Edith yelled as she ran from the table tennis table and over to the sofa, keeping her gaze locked on Jack.

"He's fine." Gru replied sternly, massaging his raging temple. He wanted to respond softly to calm everyone down, but the stress in his mind was taking over.

"He doesn't look fine." Margo replied worryingly, watching Jack's bloodied and unmoving face.

"He got eento a bit of a fight," Gru said, propping his head up against a pillow. "Dat's why he looks a leetle worse for wear."

"Is he gonna die?" Agnes asked with dread all over her face, jumping up onto the sofa to sit beside Jack's body.

"No..." Gru replied quickly before another pulse of fear thundered through his heart. Jack looked very pale and his eyes were completely inanimate, as if the brain behind them was completely nonfunctional. He put his finger to his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief to feel it beat back at him. He looked over to Dr. Nefario and spoke to him demandingly. "I need yoo to look after heem. I've got to get to de AVL ship."

"Of course." Nefario replied, placing his hand's behind his back. "Godspeed."

Gru nodded quickly before darting out of the room. This mission was nowhere near over yet...

* * *

The AVL ship was a disaster zone. Fire raged through the large room that housed the huge fight. AVL and IVB agents were engaged in a war to the death. Dead bodies of agents from both organizations covered the floor and the pure sense of panic could be felt in the air. Lucy, Dru and the army of minions flooded into the room to join the fight. They knew that they might never leave alive...

"Oh my god..." Lucy muttered under her breath as she caught sight of the bodies littering the floor and the flames rising into the ceiling.

"Dis ees awful," Dru said, covering his eyes in a state of disgust. "I thought yoo good guys never killed anyone."

"I thought that too," Lucy responded, clenching her fists and preparing herself to fight. "But it looks like I was wrong..."

She darted her gaze to the nearest IVB agent and lunged at them. The minions roared a battle cry before firing their freeze rays at every bad guy in sight, while Dru stood there for a few seconds in uncertainty, before being snapped out of his thoughts by a powerful punch. There was no way Dru was going to take that...

The battle went on for ages. Twenty minutes had passed and it seemed like there was no end in sight. Just as the minions had managed to freeze all of the IVB agents in the room, more emerged from seemingly nowhere. Lucy was exhausted from all of the fighting and she wasn't sure how much more she could take. That's when the sounds of anguish from the AVL director, Valerie Da Vinci, could be heard from high above. Lucy looked up and saw her being attacked by one of the IVB agents. She couldn't just stand there and watch.

Lucy made her way up by using different staircases, kicking and punching every agent in sight as she did so, before finally making it up to Valerie.

"Agent Wilde!" She yelled as she attempted to back away from the powerful attacks the IVB agent was using. "Come help me out here!"

Lucy jumped for the agent but was met by a strong kick to the head. She slumped to the ground and felt her mind spin in a daze. Before she could get muster the strength to get back on her feet, she watched the agent remove a handgun from their pocket and point it at the AVL director. Valerie cried out in fear, but couldn't escape the bullet that flew through her chest, killing her instantly. Lucy panicked as she realized she could be shot next and dived into the agent's legs.

They were dumped to the ground as Lucy punched the agent in the head as hard as she could. She managed to land four hits before he threw her off. Lucy rolled on the ground to get back to her feet and turned to face him. She was startled to see the handgun being pointed at her head. Her face dropped and she readied herself for the bullet.

Suddenly, the agent turned into a block of ice. At first, Lucy was confused, but then she realized what had happened and couldn't wait to see his face. Gru emerged from the left, and even though the fight was still ongoing, Lucy couldn't help but jump into him with a hug. It only lasted a second, however, as Gru was forced to pull her out of it.

"Dis eesn't over yet!" He yelled, electing Lucy to nod and look around at the destruction in front of her. IVB agents consumed in blocks of ice littered the room and it seemed like everything was beginning to quieten down. It looked like they were about to win. That is, until Gru pointed at one of the agents who was planting a large bomb on the wall. "We need to stop heem!"

The couple ran over different walkways and up different staircases before finally reaching the bomb. The agent turned to them with a wicked smile on his face before showing them the detonator in his hands.

"Say goodbye to your precious little airship!" He yelled before moving his finger to push the button. Gru's eyes widened and he leaped into the agent's waist, making the detonator fling out of his hand and fly through the air. Lucy kept her eye's narrowed onto it before positioning herself. She caught it perfectly.

"Yes!" She cheered as it landed in her hands. Gru began punching the living daylights out of the agent on the ground before a minion came over and shot his tranquilizer gun at him while he laid beaten up on the floor.

Gru stood up and looked around the entire room. It was finally about to end. The minions had trapped the last IVB agent in a corner, pointing their freeze rays at him dangerously. He looked like he was pleading for forgiveness, but the minions weren't stupid. They may be energetic and crazy, but they aren't stupid. Within a second, he had been enveloped in ice.

An eruption of minion cheers broke out within the room. Even Dru's emphatic squeals could be heard from somewhere. Gru punched the air in victory before taking his wife in a loving embrace. They kissed passionately and didn't want the moment they were sharing to end.

"Awwwwww..." The minions said heartwarmingly in unison, prompting Gru to lift his head away from his wife's and shout out to everyone.

"Yeah, yeah! Just be quiet!"

* * *

Jack's mind finally began to wake up. He felt a huge feeling of comfort and relaxation. He didn't open his eyes, as he didn't want to leave the soothing darkness. As he remained dazed for a few seconds, he genuinely thought he was in heaven. He was waiting to see the pearly gates appear in front of him. But as his senses returned, and as the bulging pain in both his head and limbs came back, he realized that he was still alive.

He was a little afraid to open his eyes. His last memory was a gun going off. Surely he should be dead, but the soft feeling of the sofa on his back and the cold touch of the air on his skin told him otherwise. If he was still alive, then what happened? There was only one way to find out.

He began shuffling around in unease as the pain in his body continued to cause him discomfort until he managed to flicker his eyes open. What he saw made him completely forget the horrible pain for a little while.

Edith was sitting beside him on the sofa. She was looking away from him and seemed both afraid and sad. Jack couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her. This was surely just a hallucination. There was no way he could be here with her. He sat up, even with the pain burning in his limbs, and spoke to gather her attention.

"Edith?" He whispered, the pain making his voice quiver. She turned to face him extremely quickly and beamed with a smile the second she could see his conscious face.

"Jack!" She yelled before jumping into him with a huge hug. The second she touched him, he realized he wasn't hallucinating, and that made him grin hugely. This was all real. He wasn't sure how he managed to get back to the house, but in that moment, he couldn't care less. He held her close and felt his heart melt with both relief and joy.

"Thank god..." He whispered again, closing his eyes and enjoying the hug while it lasted. He never wanted to let go of her.

For the second time in his life, he had almost lost her forever. And he didn't want to risk losing her again...

Then, Jack felt two other people join the hug. For a fraction of a second, he was confused. He opened his eyes and saw Agnes and Margo holding onto him with a smile. That feeling of pure happiness covered him again and it made him want to cry. He still didn't feel like he deserved to be treated this well.

The hug seemed to last forever, but in reality, it went on for around twenty seconds. It would've lasted for longer, but the sound of the door to the recreational room pulled them out of it. Everyone looked and saw Gru, Lucy and Dru enter. They looked tired and hurt, but carried a jubilant smile.

"Girls!" They cheered in unison, making the three girls jump up from the sofa and hug into their legs.

"Is it over!?" Margo yelled, as she let go of Gru's legs and looked up at her mother, father and uncle. Her sisters did the same after the question was asked.

"Yes..." Gru replied, giving each of the girls a smile of relief. "Eet's all over..."

Jack managed to just about get up from his seat on the sofa and limp over to the rest of his family. He frowned angrily before pointing his finger at Gru, Lucy and Dru.

"So which one of you saved me!?" He asked furiously, his voice still quivering in pain and unease. The trio looked around at each other in panic before Gru owned up.

"Eet was me..." He began, holding up his hands in surrender. "I know yoo said to stay up on de second floor but we were just really worried dat yoo were hurt and I hope yoo can understand dat I-"

Gru was suddenly cut off as Jack gave him a big hug.

"Thank you." He whimpered, closing his eyes and holding onto him as if he were a child holding onto their parent. Gru remained a little startled for a second, before warmly smiling and hugging him back.

"Yoo're welcome." He replied.

The rest of the family, even Dr. Nefario, joined in with the hug. A warm and loving silence filled the room as an atmosphere of relief swept over everyone. A few of them may be a little bloodied and bruised, but all that mattered was that they were all alive and safe. The past few days had been eventful, with both bad and good situations coming from them. But judging on how they felt right now, it had all been worth it.

Jack still didn't feel like he was truly a part of this family, but the feeling wasn't mutual. In the eyes of the others, he was now one of them. In fact, Gru had always told his mother that he wanted a son when he was younger. This was a chance to have one, even if he may already be seventeen years old.

Edith couldn't be happier to have someone biologically related to her, especially one who was practically the same as her. She thought her family beforehand was perfect, and she wouldn't have changed any of it for the world. But now, she wondered where she even was without her brother...

Tomorrow would be the first day in a little while where they could spend it all together as a family. And they couldn't wait to get started...

* * *

 _Wow...that took a lot out of me._

 _We're not finished yet, as I have one more chapter left to release for this story. What a ride it's been so far..._

 _Please, PLEASE, take a moment to review. I've had to battle with multiple headaches to get this done, so it would really mean a lot._

 _The next chapter should be out soon. There are only one or two things left to tie up, so it won't be anywhere near as long as this one._


	12. Those Three Little Kittens

_And we reach the final chapter. I'm actually very proud of myself for finishing this, considering how long it is. I've also just noticed that this is now the second longest DM fic on this site. It was never meant to get this long..._

 _I'll talk a little more at the end, but let's just get into this chapter._

 _Also, I've just read online that Illumination have announced a Despicable Me 4. I'm already EXTREMELY excited :D_

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve -  
** _ **Those Three Little Kittens**_

Tranquility. That's all Jack could feel at this moment. The dark limbo of sleep was intoxicating. So intoxicating in fact, that Jack never wanted to leave. But when you're in a house with three young girls, it was inevitable that you would have to.

He was jerked awake by the feeling of someone jumping onto his chest. It startled him a little and his eyes darted open to investigate for danger. He relaxed, but got a little frustrated, when he saw that it was Agnes.

"Jack!" She yelled jubilantly, shaking him as she did so. "Wake up!"

"Ugh..." Jack moaned, rubbing his eyes and looking over to the alarm clock. It read 7:59 am. "One more hour..."

"But your waffle will go cold..." Agnes replied as she dropped her head slightly, making Jack look at her with a small warm smile. Jack had been trained to handle all kinds of manipulation techniques, but trying to argue against Agnes's cute little voice was impossible. "Plus I wanna watch some cartoons and you're taking up the whole sofa."

Jack sighed before sitting up to make some room for Agnes. She cheered as she jumped into the free spot and clicked a button on the remote control. The TV came to life and began displaying a sickly sweet cartoon.

It was about a multicolored unicorn doing something in some pink castle in some world made of candy...or something. Jack didn't really care about the storyline, he just wanted to get away from it.

He scoffed before getting up and trudging slowly out of the living room. His mind still hadn't woken up completely, and he avoided walking head first into the side of the door by only a few millimeters.

Upon reaching the hallway, the smell of a cooking waffle made him hungry. He slowly made his way to the kitchen, where he saw Gru staring down at the waffle iron, looking like he was lost in thought. He didn't notice Jack as he walked in, up until he spoke.

"Morning." He said, making Gru jump in shock.

"Oh! Uh..." He replied sheepishly, going a little red with embarrasment as Jack gave him a funny smirk. "Morning."

"You okay?" Jack asked, as he made his way over to the kitchen table and took a seat.

"Yeah, yeah. Just theenkeeng." Gru replied, rubbing his head.

"What about?"

"Oh...don't worry about eet." Gru spoke, his voice slightly hindered by the sound of the waffle iron dinging. "Oh! I almost forgot, your bed ees being delivered today."

"Bed?" Jack replied, looking a little surprised and confused.

"Mm-hmm," Gru responded, putting the waffle onto the plate. "Eef yoo're gonna leeve here, we can't have yoo sleeping on de sofa every day, can we."

"Oh, yeah...no I guess not." Jack mumbled sadly, looking down to the table. Gru heard the strange tone of his voice and perked his head up questioningly.

"Yoo do... _want_ to leeve here right?"

"Yeah, yeah! Definitely!" Jack replied quickly, lifting his head back up to look at Gru. "I guess the IVB boss has just put some thoughts in my head."

"What do yoo mean by dat?" Gru replied, as he walked over and placed the waffle in front of Jack.

"Well...before we started fighting we had a little chat." Jack replied, looking away from him awkwardly. "He was saying about how you don't really care about me...and how you're just manipulating me with love so that I won't hurt you. I didn't really believe him, but I guess it's just lingering at the back of my mind."

"Oh." Gru replied, looking away with a slightly saddened expression. Jack noticed this and his face dropped a little in worry.

"It's not true..." He said, narrowing his eyes slightly at him. "Right?"

"Look, I'm gonna level weeth yoo Jack." Gru began, sitting down opposite him and giving him a strong stare. Jack returned his gaze profusely, hoping beyond belief that he didn't say something that would hurt him deeply. "I never thought dat Edith would believe dat yoo were her brother, and deep down, I really deedn't want her to."

" _What_!?" Jack exclaimed, leaning in aggressively. Gru flinched and stuttered in panic.

"W-w-wait! Yoo deedn't let me fineesh." He said, putting his arms up in self-defence. "After she deed, and after seeing how happy she was weeth yoo, I eenvited yoo to stay for deener to keep her happy."

Jack calmed down slightly after Gru said that, but still looked very offended. Does Gru only want him here so that Edith remains happy? Does Gru actually not like him and would rather he was gone? He wanted to question it, but he decided to let him finish before doing so.

"I'll be completely honest, I really deedn't want yoo to stay! I mean, yoo keednapped me and threatened to kill me only de day before! Eet scared me dat I would have yoo een my house, talkeeng weeth my daughters. I was afraid yoo were goeeng to hurt dem!"

"I could never hurt my own sister!" Jack blurted, trying to keep his voice down so that he wouldn't wake up the people who were still asleep in the house.

"I know dat now..." Gru replied, dipping his head. "But at de time, I wasn't sure. Yoo said all dese nice theengs to her, and eet seemed like yoo loved her, but I steel had doubts. Dat was, unteel yoo saved her life. Twice! And saved Dru's as well. Dat's when I realized...yoo could be of use to dis family."

"Of _use_?" Jack replied, getting even more offended. "So that's all I am, a tool to keep you protected?"

"No, no! Again, yoo're not letting me fineesh." Gru replied quickly. "I realized, yoo could be of use because...

"I've always wanted a son."

Jack's aggressive demeanor disappeared in almost an instant. His face softened into a deeply shocked, but entirely touched, expression. He looked to the ground and smiled massively. He could be someone's 'son'? He had never truly been a 'son' before...

Yes, he did have his former parents. But they never really considered him a son. They considered him as more of a mistake that they were forced to give a home. Chances are, after he got old enough, he would've been kicked out of the house and he never would've seen his sister again. The thought of that was sickening enough.

But now was the chance to have loving parents, a cool uncle, and three adorable little sisters. How could Jack argue with that?

"And I've always wanted a dad..." Jack replied, lifting his head up. Gru was saddened by his depressing response, but felt mostly touched to be the dad he needed. After a second of comforting silence, they both stood up and hugged each other.

Deep down inside, it still didn't feel right. It still felt like they were two strangers hugging each other. But Gru remembered going through the same thing with his daughters. It took a whole month before he could hug and kiss them comfortably. He knew that, in time, he would take to calling Jack his son.

Jack didn't know that he would eventually feel okay about it, and so instead felt guilty that it still felt a little wrong. But in that moment, he couldn't care less.

He finally had parents. _Real_ parents.

"But dere's one condition..." Gru said with a playful grin, pulling out of the hug quickly. "Yoo gotta promise me dat yoo won't be as annoying as your seester."

Jack chuckled before responding.

"I can't make that promise..."

* * *

The rest of the day was absoluetely brilliant for the family. If you were an outsider looking in, you would think nothing special of what was happening inside. But for them, that day was the definition of 'special'.

The whole day consisted of small activities around the house. Watching TV, playing with toys, having tea parties, running in the backyard. Those sorts of things. But that's not what mattered. What mattered is that they got to do it together.

Margo also got to see Dr. Nefario's new invention, even though she had no recollection of it. Thankfully, the doctor had designed it in a way that allowed you to snip out specific memories, so Margo remembered most of what had happened over the past few days. Everything except for what she saw outside and the memory erasing procedure itself. It was a lot easier that way.

They had just finished eating dinner as the evening came to a close. Dru, Jack, Edith, and Agnes were doing the washing up. Or, they were supposed to be doing it, but instead they were laughing and mucking around the entire time, not paying the dirty plates much attention.

Gru, Lucy and Margo were sitting at the table, conversing. Gru was finding it quite hard to talk however, as his demanding thoughts were still well in control. His wife had noticed the unease in his expression several times throughout that day, and in this occurrence, she decided to question it.

"You feeling okay, Gru?" She asked, putting her hand on her husband's.

"Huh?" Gru asked, a little startled by her sudden question. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Why do yoo ask?"

"You look like you're a million miles away, honey." She replied, giving him a small smile.

"Do I?" He questioned, pretending to seem confused. "Well...I'm right here!"

"I can see that." Lucy responded with a chuckle, before talking a little more seriously. "Come on Gru. I'm your wife! You can tell me what's wrong."

"Notheeng's wrong. Eet's just..." Gru replied, shifting in his seat with unease. "I've been theenkeeng about a few theengs."

"Like what?" Margo suddenly questioned, making Gru jump a little with the sound of her voice. For a second, he'd forgotten that she was sitting there.

"Oh! Uh...just theengs." Gru replied sadly, before moving his gaze away from his wife and eldest daughter. "Don't worry about eet."

"Gru..." Lucy muttered sternly, relaying the concern in her voice. "I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what's wrong."

"Look, I'll tell yoo later." He replied sharply, before getting up out of his seat and muttering as he left the room. "I just need a few meenutes for myself."

Lucy looked to Margo in surprise and confusion, and her eldest daughter mirrored it back. They both weren't expecting that kind of response. After a few seconds of just looking at each other, Lucy turned towards the door and broke the silence with a worried tone.

"I'll go follow him." She said, before pointing to the sink where the rest of the family were and talking playfully. "Why don't you go sort them out?"

Margo looked over and saw a huge mess of soap, water and suds. Somehow, they had managed to get more water on themselves than they did on the plates. Each of them were hysterically laughing, most likely over something incredibly juvenile, and Margo wanted nothing more than to join in.

She jumped up from her seat and walked over to the sink, while Lucy made her way out into the hallway. She heard the back door slam shut as she stepped out. She was both afraid and reluctant to follow him, but she of all people knew that talking about your feelings will always improve them.

She slowly cracked the back door open and peeked outside. Gru was standing in the middle of the lawn, his gaze firmly locked onto the night sky. She couldn't see his face, but something told her that his expression was a little worse for wear.

She opened the door fully and proceeded to slowly walk to stand beside her husband. He didn't look over at her, instead electing to keep his eyes focused on the flickering of the stars. For a few seconds, she remained silent out of both confusion and worry. But eventually, she built the courage to speak.

"Nice night tonight, huh?" She said lightly.

"Yeah," Gru muttered, still not looking at her. "Eet's beautiful."

"It is." Lucy agreed, nodding her head as she too perked her head up to look into space. "Kinda makes all the bad thoughts go away, doesn't it."

"Mm-hmm." Gru murmured, nodding his head as well. Another few seconds of silence built up between the couple, before Lucy put her hand on his shoulder and spoke.

"Wanna tell me what bad thoughts you're tryna get rid of then?" She said, trying to add a sense of playfulness to her voice, but failing.

"I killed someone, Lucy." Gru replied, his tone of voice completely different to how it was only a few seconds ago. "I'm no better dan dat IVB boss. I took hees life."

"You had to, Gru." Lucy began, lightly shaking his shoulder. "If you hadn't, then things would've been a whole lot worse."

"But dere were lot's of better ways to stop heem." Gru said, finally taking his eyes off the sky and putting his head down to look at the floor. "Maybe I could've fought heem or froze heem or shrunk heem. Why deed I have to shoot heem!?"

"Because you were thinking of your family." Lucy stated. "At the end of the day Gru, family is what matters. And if you didn't do what you did, then your family could've been torn apart."

"Dat doesn't make eet right." Gru replied, turning his head to look at her.

"Well...maybe it does." Lucy replied, making Gru turn away again. "I know you're probably thinking about how that guy could've turned out like you and become a good person, but if you think about it, that guy was _nothing_ like you."

"Notheeng like me!?" Gru responded in shock, turning his whole body to face her fully. "He was another villain! He was exactly like me! Or...exactly like de old me!"

"No he wasn't, Gru!" Lucy responded. "I never met the old you, but like you said in the living room a few days ago, you never killed anyone. Not even once! And when you finally did, you're reacting like this. Like a man filled with pure guilt. Do you know what that means?"

"What?" Gru whimpered after a second of reluctant silence.

"You've never been a villain." Lucy announced. "That's the only reason why you changed so much when you found those girls. If you really were a villain, you would never have kept them. You would've thrown them back in that orphanage the second the chance came up. But you didn't!"

"What's your point?" Gru asked, still sounding solemn.

"Remember when you said that, according to AVL protocols, you deserve to die because you used to be a villain?" Lucy said.

"Yeah." Gru replied, looking away from his wife.

"Well...does that apply when you were never even a villain?" Lucy said. "You never killed anyone, you saved three girls from a horrible life at the orphanage, you saved me from a lonely life in a small apartment and you saved Jack from a loveless life without a family. That doesn't sound like the sort of things that a villain does. You seriously think that, just because you saved Jack's life from a man who deserves to die, that _YOU_ deserve to die! Gru, you're smarter than that."

Gru wasn't expecting it, but Lucy had actually made him feel better. She was right. People who are born bad, don't just stop being bad. They're bad forever. That shows that Gru was never actually a bad person in the first place, but more a good person who fell into the wrong profession. And it took love and family for him to realize it. Kind of like Jack...

The IVB boss and Fierce do not fall into the same category however. They were never going to develop into good people. The fact that they had killed young children, and planned to kill more, automatically makes them bad. Gru and Jack did the right thing. They deserved to die!

Without responding, he pulled his wife in for a big kiss. Obviously, she didn't protest. The small shine of the moon's light and the slight brush of the breeze in the air made that kiss extra special. The two could've remained kissing forever, but an awful reminder pulled Gru out of it.

"But wait..." He said, giving his wife a distressed expression. "What am I gonna do for work now!?"

"Well...like you said," Lucy replied, trying hard to reassure her husband, but feeling just as doubtful deep down. "I'm sure something will come up."

At that very second, Gru's mobile phone began to vibrate. Gru pulled it out of his pocket and read the caller ID. It read 'Unknown Number'. Gru looked at it in confusion, slightly reluctant to answer it, before pressing the 'accept call' button.

"Hello? Yes, dis ees Felonious Gru." He said. The sound of a very professional voice spoke on the other end. Lucy tried her hardest to pick up what the person was saying, but it just wasn't loud enough. After a few seconds, Gru's face began to beam with a glorified smile.

"Are yoo serious!? No way!" He exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. "And dis eesn't a wind up, right?"

Lucy watched as her husband calmed himself down and straightened his excited smile.

"Oh...um...yeah, sorry about dat. Tomorrow? No, dat eesn't a problem weeth me. Thank yoo very much!"

He hung up the phone and then squealed with excitement, just like a little kid. Lucy was shaking her head in bewilderment as she watched her husband jump around giddily.

"What!?" She exclaimed, chuckling a little as she spoke. "What's going on!? Who was that!?"

"Oh, only de head office of de AVL." Gru said, giving his wife a very proud smirk. "Guess who's de new AVL director..."

Lucy's eyes widened and her mouth went agape before she pointed to him and gasped.

"No way..." She murmered, a massive smile beginning to break across her face.

"Yes way!" He exclaimed, leaping into the air excitedly.

"That's great Gru!" Lucy said as she jumped into her husband with a massive hug. "How, though?"

"Well, seence Valerie deedn't survive de beeg fight een de headquarters, dey needed a new director." Gru began, holding his wife tightly. "And because of my efforts een saveeng de ship from being blown up, and mainly because I'm so cool, dey chose _ME_!"

"I don't believe it..." Lucy said, squeezing her husband tightly back. She gave him a huge kiss on the lips before continuing. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Uhh...guys?" A male voice from behind questioned. Gru and Lucy broke out of the hug and turned to face the back door, where they saw Jack and the three girls. Margo and Agnes were watching with a warm smile, Edith with a disgusted frown, and Jack with slight confusion. "The girls want _you_ to put them to bed, because for some reason, _I'm_ not allowed to do it..."

Jack gave the three girls a playful frown as he spoke.

"Well, _you_ can't fit your nose into the hole, can you!?" Edith exclaimed, holding her hands out as if Jack was being completely stupid.

"Wha...what does that even mean?" Jack questioned with a small chuckle.

"Daddy will show you!" Agnes yelled, before turning to face her father. "Can you read us One Big Unicorn?"

"Don't we usually save dat for a special occasion?" Gru questioned, walking over to the small girl and picking her up in his arms.

"This _is_ a special occasion!" Margo stated, making Gru narrow his eyes at her.

"How so?" He questioned playfully, knowing full well that he was still going to read it to them, just because they were giving him that cute stare of theirs.

"Duh..." Edith said, rolling her eyes. "It's Jack's first official day as a Gru!"

Jack smiled warmly as those words penetrated the air. He looked up at Gru and shrugged his shoulders. Gru grinned back before looking around at the three girls and responding.

"Good point." He said, a large cheer thundering the air after speaking his next sentence. "Let's go."

* * *

The girls were readied for bed, however, they looked far from tired. They were all sat up and staring at Gru in pure excitement as he took _the_ book down from the shelf.

"So...uh...what's so special about this book, then?" Jack questioned, as he stood beside Edith's bed, looking around at the girls. Edith and Agnes were both hyperventilating, as if this book carried the meaning to life itself.

"Yoo'll see." Gru replied, strolling over to sit on a small white stool placed in the middle of all three beds.

"Don't forget to-" Agnes yelled as she stood up in her bed, before being interrupted by Gru.

"Yes, yes. I won't." He replied. He propped the book into the air before putting his nose through the hole in the cover. The girls all laughed, while Jack looked at him in confusion. He didn't find it very funny, instead, he found it kind of embarrassing to watch. But after seeing how much his sister seemed to like it, he pretended to laugh in order to not offend her.

"So that's why you won't let me read it." Jack said as he chuckled.

"That's not the only reason why." Margo replied, saying something serious but still retaining a beaming smile. Jack was confused and wanted to question her, but something more interesting caught his eye.

"Wait...did you write that?" He asked, pointing at the words 'By Gru' that were written on the cover.

"Yoo bet." He replied, as he took his nose out of the hole and gave him a grin.

"And it's the best book _ever_!" Agnes proclaimed as she stood up in pure excitement again. Jack chuckled before sitting down against the side of his sister's bomb bed.

"Okay. I'm excited!" He proclaimed, turning his full attention to Gru.

"Yes, well, ees everyone ready?" Gru asked, looking around at his three daughters.

"We've been ready for the past twenty minutes!" Edith exclaimed, scoffing with exasperation. "Just read!"

"Okay, okay." Gru said, laughing a little as he opened the book. "Here we go den."

 _ONE BIG UNICORN, STRONG AND FREE, THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY AS HE COULD BE._

Jack was beyond confused as Gru read. He glanced at his sister, who was so entranced by the book, that she didn't even notice him look at her. What was so great about it? It was just about some stupid unicorn. It's cool that Gru wrote it, but...

 _THEN THREE LITTLE KITTENS CAME AROUND AND TURNED HIS WHOLE LIFE UPSIDE DOWN!_

Jack took a closer look at the page as Gru read. It showed the unicorn being frozen by some little kittens who were all coloured differently. If that was it, then Jack would've got even more confused. But he noticed that the kittens looked a lot like the three girls. One with a pink hat, one with glasses and one with a tuft of black hair. Suddenly, things were becoming a bit clearer...

 _THEY MADE HIM LAUGH! *HOHO* THEY MADE HIM CRY... *OHHH...*_

Jack inspected the page that was presented as Gru turned it over. The unicorn and the three little kittens were riding a rollercoaster. It took until this long for Jack to notice that the unicorn had Gru's scarf on...

 _HE NEVER SHOULD HAVE SAID GOODBYE._

And with those words, Jack felt his heart soften up and melt in his chest. The way that Gru said it sounded so...regretful. Edith had told him all about the whole adoption fiasco, so he didn't need the connection to be explained.

 _AND NOW HE KNOWS THAT HE COULD NEVER PART FROM THOSE THREE LITTLE KITTENS THAT CHANGED HIS HEART._

Jack had nothing to say. He had never felt so touched in his whole life. He now understood why Gru was the only one allowed to read the book. Jack actually felt a little stupid for suggesting that he should read it.

Without realizing, he had been staring profusely at Gru and the book the entire time, just like his sister had been. He turned to look at Edith, who's eyes were only half open. She laid on the bed, peering back at him tiredly. There were too many things that Jack was finding heartwarming, and even though he never wanted to leave, he had to before he started crying like a little girl.

"You're too cute, you know that?" Jack said quietly with a smile, as he gave his sister a small kiss on the cheek.

"I'm not cute!" Edith proclaimed, her eyes opening fully as she glared at her brother fiercely. "I'm cool."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that!" Jack replied, winking at her.

"Jack!" Edith replied, crossing her arms and seeming genuinely offended.

"I'm only joking!" Jack said, chuckling and pulling his sister in for a hug. "You're the coolest person I know."

"I know I am." Edith replied, smirking and shuffling in her bed to get comfy. "Love you."

"Love you too." Jack replied, before he proceeded to move to Agnes's bed. He wasn't sure if he should hug her, since he didn't know if she considered him her brother yet, but that uncertainty didn't last long.

Agnes jumped into Jack the second he got close enough, catching him off guard and startling him slightly.

"I love you, Jack." Agnes said, grabbing onto his leg. Jack smiled with a mix of awe and delight, before putting his arm around her back.

"I love you too." He mumbled. The real doubt now sprung into his mind. Would Margo hug him? He seriously doubted it, since he could tell that she had trust issues. As Agnes let go, he turned to see Margo stirring awkwardly in bed. He didn't want to push her, so he elected to go with a less affectionate goodnight.

"Night Margo." He said, giving her a beaming smile. As he began walking towards the door, he almost fell to the floor as Margo jumped from her bed and gave him a hug in his side. Jack jumped out of his skin, and after realizing what was going on, looked down at her with his mouth agape.

"Thanks for saving my life, Jack." She spoke, her eyes closed as she clutched onto his thigh. She seemed more comfortable with him, especially since her memory of what she saw had been cleared. To her, Jack was just another Edith who risked his own life to save her's and her sister's. She was confused as to why she didn't hug him after he did...

"Don't sweat it." Jack replied warmly, putting an arm around her. "Thanks for saving mine."

"What?" Margo replied, letting go and looking up at him with a humerous grin. "I never saved your life."

"Oh, you did." Jack replied as he made his way out of the room. "You all did. You just don't know it yet."

Margo was confused as to what he meant, but decided not to question it. She shrugged before climbing back into her bed. Jack walked past Gru as he stood beside the door, looking back at him with a touched smile, before moving over to the three girls and giving them an individual goodnight kiss, hug and 'I love you'.

After Gru switched off the bedroom light and proceeded to quietly leave the room, he met back up with Jack in the hallway, who looked at him with a tired smile.

"I know..." Gru began, holding his hand up to stop him from saying what he knew he was about to say. "De book was a beet cheesy, but-"

"Cheesy?" Jack replied, laughing a little. "That book was awesome! Maybe the whole nose-horn thing was a bit stupid, but...that doesn't matter. You really are an amazing father."

"Thanks, Jack." Gru replied sheepishly, looking away with slight embarrasment.

"Anyways," Jack said, looking down at his watch and yawning. "I'm gonna hit the hay. Night."

Jack gave him a small, awkward hug, before proceeding to make his way towards the bathroom.

"Goodnight, Jack." Gru replied, walking down towards the living room, where his wife was waiting to watch a movie.

* * *

After getting ready for bed, Jack made his way into the study, where his newly-delivered bed had been placed temporarily. The minions were starting construction on a permanent bedroom for him tomorrow. Jack had argued, saying that they really didn't need to go to any trouble. But all of his arguments were rebuffed by the fact that the minions REALLY like building things, and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

Jack laid down on the bed and snuggled under the covers. Since it was brand new, it felt very comfortable. Or maybe that was because Jack wasn't used to normal beds, since the ones in the IVB dorms felt like sleeping on bricks.

As he laid there, thoughts began spinning in his head. The whole day replayed itself, and Jack found himself unconsciously smiling. It was crazy how his entire life went from almost unbearable to absolutely perfect in a matter of a few days.

Before, Jack had nobody who loved him, a sister who didn't even know he existed, a job that made him do bad things and a boss who was a complete psychopath.

Now, Jack had more than a few people who loved him, three sisters who were beyond perfect, a mind of his own and the knowledge that no psychopath boss was coming to ruin it all.

Thinking about the transition made Jack feel eternally grateful. Before the events of the past few days unfolded, life had been pretty harsh on Jack. But now, life was finally giving him a break. A chance to be happy. Beyond happy. And that's how he felt at this very moment. _Beyond_ happy.

The last thought that went through his head before he was overcome by sleep, was the dreadful reminder of what he almost did. How he almost shot himself in Darren's apartment. Jack scolded himself for almost doing something so stupid.

But even though the memory was painful like acid, Jack felt a sense of comfort from it. The fact that he didn't say goodbye to life, and to his new family, was a relieving thought. For now, he knows he could never part, from those three little kittens...

...that changed his heart.

 **THE END**

* * *

 _Phew...and there we are._

 _I'm actually kinda upset that this is over, but ah well, it was a lot of fun!_

 _( **NOTE:** If you read through this entire story and you did happen to enjoy it, then I made a sequel that's even longer than this. If you're interested, please check it out.)_

 _I'll use this little section at the bottom to talk about this story. It won't be much, since there isn't much to say really._

 _The main inspiration for me was my pet hate for every Despicable Me film. The lack of any stories revolving around Edith..._

 _She's my favourite character in the films, so it bugged me how they would never give her a storyline of her own. In the third film, Margo and Agnes both had storylines, Margo with the whole Nico thing and Agnes with the unicorn thing. But what did Edith have? Nothing. I hope they give her something in the fourth film._

 _When I planned this story, I knew straight away how I could give Edith a good story that involved both action and adorableness. A long lost brother! And that's when Jack was born..._

 _I actually loved writing Jack's character. I actually kinda wished he was a real character in DM now, because I thought he was awesome. I know people usually don't like OCs in fanfics, so I wanted mine to be one you could both enjoying reading about and one you could care about. I hope I did a decent enough job of it..._

 _So, obviously, I'm not done writing DM fics just yet. I just enjoy it too much. Will probably release another one soon, not too sure when, but definitely soon._

 _Thanks A LOT for the support for this story. Anyone who reviewed, favourited, followed or even just read and enjoyed, you've made this so awesome!_

 _Will be back with another fanfic ASAP, so see everyone soon._

 _Buh-bye!_


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